---
title: Summit Launches Student Competition to Earn Up to $2M in Venture Funding
date: 2024-02-12T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/summit-launches-student-competition-to-earn-up-to-2m-in-venture-funding"
section: Articles
---
# Summit Launches Student Competition to Earn Up to $2M in Venture Funding

*February 12, 2024* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Annual Cohorts to Seek Solutions to Gun Violence, Then Mental Health Challenges

*SC3 A2843 1920x1080 — Phillip Alvarez, associate director of ventures and partners, left, and Isabella Laurel '18, program director for marketing and communications, both with xFoundry@UMD, announce the topic of the initiative's next competition, chosen by the audience at the event at the Hotel at the University of Maryland on Friday: mental health.*

University of Maryland students preparing to solve one of the world’s greatest challenges started their journey on Friday night at … the summit.

The inaugural Xplore Summit hosted by the new xFoundry@UMD brought together more than 350 Terps, administrators, government leaders, investors and successful entrepreneurs to kick off a competition that will offer up to $2 million in venture capital funding to a student startup tackling important issues such as school safety (particularly active shooter detection), the subject of the inaugural competition.

At the event, held at The Hotel at the University of Maryland, UMD President Darryll J. Pines, xFoundry@UMD Cofounder and Executive Director Amir Ansari, U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey and others shared a vision for the initiative, which is inspired by the XPRIZE, a series of public competitions encouraging technological innovation.

“Competition inspires the human spirit to do something the human doesn’t think is possible,” said Pines. “It taps into deep talent that you don’t even know you have.”

The first cohort of The xFoundry@UMD’s Xperience academic program kicked off in January with over 30 students committed to doing good on a large scale; they will train over 15 months to work across disciplines while gaining knowledge and experience as they build their projects.



*Two guys talk on a stage — xFoundry@UMD Cofounder and Executive Director Amir Ansari (right), discusses the entrepreneurial initiative with UMD Chief Innovation Officer Dean Chang at the event on Friday.*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering)