Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund

About

Established in 1996 with a $1 million gift from Eugene M. Lang, MS '40, the Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund fosters an entrepreneurial environment at Columbia Business School by providing early stage investing opportunities to qualifying student business initiatives. It also allows the School to share in the success of funded ventures through negotiated equity or other participation.

Conditions of Investment
In order to provide more access to seed funding in a venture’s early stages, the Fund will make an immediate initial investment, typically in the amount of $25,000-$50,000, in the form of a convertible demand note in ventures that meet its investment criteria. This criteria requires that ventures have a viable business plan with good chances of success and a full time commitment by the graduating student to the business as its owner or prime mover. The Fund retains the right to make an additional equity investment in the business when the business raises its first round of equity backed by professional investors. The Board retains sole discretion for deciding which businesses it will fund each year and may decide in a given year to forgo the funding of any projects if none of the ventures presented meet its investment criteria.

Questions? Contact langcenter@gsb.columbia.edu.

Selection Process for the Lang Fund Competition