Student Entrepreneur Acceleration & Launch (SEAL) is UT Austin’s selective summer accelerator that picks the most promising emerging startups across campus and helps them confront their next market-driven milestone.
While other campus programs encourage entrepreneurial exploration, SEAL serves as a capstone-like accelerator that helps student and faculty entrepreneurs transition out of UT resources and into the marketplace.
The Program
Our nine-week summer program helps undergrad, grad, and faculty teams explore a core company hypothesis with the goal of making the decision to accelerate, pivot, or rightfully shut down their venture.
Workshop Sessions: Veteran entrepreneurs and subject matter experts lead workshop sessions and provide unfiltered insider knowledge on building a scalable business. Sessions cover both technical topics and human dynamics such as go-to-market strategies and the multifaceted reality of being a founder.
Community: SEAL handpicks two to three experts specific to your venture to mentor your team throughout the entire program. At the same time, we facilitate intentional relationship building with entrepreneurs and investors from the Austin startup community. We do this by teaching you networking tactics from a startup lens, making high-value introductions, and hosting a “community reverse pitch” for incubators and accelerators to “pitch” teams on why they should choose them as their next “home”–such as Y Combinator, Austin Technology Incubator, Capital Factory, Techstars, MassChallenge, and other leading programs.
D-Day: Instead of a traditional “demo day,” SEAL culminates in a Decision Day where, based on individual research and expert feedback, teams determine whether their venture can survive the real world and make a go or no-go decision. SEAL started in 2009 at the Austin Technology Incubator. A third of the companies have gone on to raise funding while another third of them have shut down at the end of the program. (The No-Go decisions are equally celebrated as it takes a certain level of self-awareness to recognize the market-driven obstacles to an opportunity and courage to shut down the venture.)
Track Record
To date, SEAL alumni companies have raised $100M and generated over $400M in valuation.
Notable startups include Favor (acquired by HEB), M87 (acquired by XCOM), Lynx Laboratories (acquired by Occipital), Accordion Health (acquired by Evolent Health), Flo Recruit, Elite Sweets, Ordoro, and EQO to name a few. SEAL was founded in 2009 at the Austin Technology Incubator – UT’s deep tech incubator and LaunchPad’s sister organization. Since 2019, SEAL is ran by The LaunchPad in continued partnership with the Austin Technology Incubator.
SEAL Class of 2021
SEAL class of 2021 applications are closed until 2022. Please sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date about the SEAL application and other startup opportunities from The LaunchPad. You can also email us to get connected to Bart Bohn, Director of SEAL & Special Projects.
Decision Day
Join LaunchPad UT for our 13th annual SEAL Decision Day where teams announce their Go / No-Go decisions! We are so excited to be back at Capital Factory's Voltron Room for Decision Day to continue the long partnership in connecting Austin's ecosystem to UT Austin's startup community. We invite you to attend on August 5th from 1-3:30pm. This event is free and open to the public. Register for D-Day
The LaunchPad will be adhering to the following safety protocols for this event:
- In-person capacity has been limited to 25%.
- A live stream option will be provided for those who prefer to participate virtually.
- Masks are encouraged for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals while indoors.
- Masks will be available at check-in for those who do not have one.
SEAL Class of 2020
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Patented technology for the generation of aligned muscle and fat cell sheets that can be stacked to form three-dimensional, layered meat. |
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Trip planning, booking and social collaboration for military trips. |
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We make continuing education easy for real estate professionals. |
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Organic, local produce delivery fighting food insecurity. |
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We reduce flare emissions via on-site natural gas powered data-centers. |
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Virtual reality powered skills-based training platform |
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NWABebé
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Self-sanitizing baby bottles designed to preserve breast milk and promote infant brain development. |
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Activated carbon cloth shoe bag that filters rock climbing shoe odor. |
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Developing the world's first semi-permanent tattoo inks. |
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Pocket Punch is a hand-held multifunctional self-defense device created by female UT students to empower individuals to protect themselves. |
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Humanitarian company removing economic barriers in organizations by integrating charitable giving with consumer spending. |
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Terra Helmets
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Eco-friendly company committed to designing helmets for various industries ranging from e-scooters to construction. |
SEAL Class of 2019
ElecTrip - Electric vehicle transportation city to city.
HiPR Innovations - Smart cushion, designed to fit any wheelchair, that dynamically alleviates areas of high pressure to reduce the risk of developing pressure ulcers.
Picko - Food delivery for college campuses.
Plexus - Provides a communication and location services platform that is reliable in limited cell environments.
Pocket Innovations - Medical device company aiming to eliminate the occurrence of pocket hematoma post pacemaker implantation.
Swayy - Clothing aggregator that creates curated shopping experiences.
Wheelist - Automotive listing company helping dealerships more effectively and efficiently list their cars for sale online.
Amigo Analytics - Provides predictive analytics to help B2B sales organizations sell more with less effort.
LoCoal - Diverting organic waste from landfills to generate renewable clean energy while capturing carbon in value added products known as biochar.