Whether you’re interested in learning more about entrepreneurship, want to join an existing student founded startup, or have a fully functioning venture and team - The Garage is the starting point at Northwestern. We are startup central: a network of resources, a community, and a physical space at Northwestern for students to learn, iterate, and grow.
We aim to teach essential skills like co-creation, leadership, networking, and building a team. Students at The Garage learn first hand the grit and resilience it takes to start and grow a company.
Nestled in the north campus parking structure on the second floor, The Garage is an 11,000 square foot co-working space outfitted with future facing technology and innovative work spaces. You can watch a virtual walk through of our space here. While access to our space is currently limited to ensure the safety of our student community, there are still a lot of ways to start your entrepreneurial journey at The Garage.
Our community has been thriving since The Garage opened in 2015. As of 2020, we’ve been home to more than 500 student founded startups and ideas. Because The Garage and its programs are interdisciplinary and open to all Northwestern students from any school and at any level of study, our community is diverse and consists of students working on all kinds of projects from tech to medicine to sustainable fashion. Most importantly, The Garage has fostered a vibrant community of like-minded individuals, including alumni, who have a passion for building their ideas and making the world a better place.
The Garage also has an extensive network of industry leaders who are ready and willing to work with student entrepreneurs. Students in The Garage’s programs are offered unparalleled mentorship opportunities to help grow themselves and their ventures. In fact, all of our resources are student driven. We’ve done everything we can to provide students with access to the tools they need. The Garage houses rapid prototyping equipment like 3D printers and laser cutters in our cutting edge Makerspace and access to other essential startup tools like Balsmiq, AWS, and the full Adobe Creative Suite.
While access to our physical space is limited, all of our programming and events are available remotely to accommodate our entire community. That means it’s easier than ever to join our family.
New to The Garage and entrepreneurship at Northwestern? We encourage you to schedule Office Hours with a peer who has navigated The Garage and its resources. You can check out who’s available to meet with you virtually on our Office Hours page.
The Garage hosts a quarterly Startup Matchmaking event, where current students incubating their startups pitch to students interested in joining a team. Head to our Events page to see when the next Startup Matchmaking is happening.
The Garage’s Tinker Program is an opportunity for Northwestern students to explore The Garage, and our resources, and their own pace. A primarily self-guided program, Tinkerers are in the ideation phase of their startup. Tinkerers receive a curated guide to startups via a weekly email from us, plus priority for Office Hours with visiting experts, and in invitation to join The Garage’s Slack workspace.
We’ve put together a comprehensive list of funding opportunities for students working on entrepreneurial projects, both at The Garage and across Northwestern.
The Garage sends out a monthly newsletter, full of our favorite things from student accomplishments to the latest events happening at The Garage and beyond. Sign up for our monthly newsletter at thegarage.nu/newsletter.
Questions? Email us at thegarage@northwestern.edu
2311 Campus Drive Suite 2300
Evanston, IL 60208
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