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By Victor Hardt
Updated September 29, 2026
4 min read
UChicago startup and VC clubs for undergrads
LTF Ventures, where I'm a general partner, is a student-run fund that writes $500 to $3,000 non-equity checks to student startups and recruits associates in autumn. Midway Ventures does pro bono consulting for startups and VC firms and recruits every fall and spring. Polsky's Innovation Fund Associates program is the third way in.
The options, side by side
| Group | What you do | When it recruits |
|---|---|---|
| LTF Ventures | Source, screen and invest in student startups. $500 to $3,000 checks, no equity. (I'm a GP at LTF.) | Autumn. Applications October 19 to 27, only a few associates a year, no fourth-years. |
| Midway Ventures | Pro bono consulting for startups and VC firms. About 5 to 7 hours a week. | Every fall and spring. Fall 2026 applications due Sunday, October 4, 7 pm. |
| Innovation Fund Associates | Diligence on deep tech startups for Polsky's Innovation Fund, in a cohort of 15 to 20 students and postdocs. | 2027 applications open September 2026. Info session October 7, noon. |
| Dorm Room Fund | National student-run fund. Illinois is on its New York and Midwest team, remote, 10 to 15 hours a week. | The 2026 deadline for its New York and Midwest team was in mid-September, and it has passed. |
From each organization's own site and forms, checked September 2026.
LTF, the student fund that writes checks
LTF, where I'm a general partner, stands for Learning To Fly. It funds UChicago student startups without taking equity. Its own guide puts checks at $500 to $3,000, for things like server hosting and incorporation. A College news story says LTF talks to about 50 founders a year, about half reach the board pitch, and about 10 get funded.
As an associate at LTF, where I'm a general partner, you do that work yourself. In LTF's words, associates help source, screen and invest in student startups. The dates and the sign-up list are on LTF's join page, with applications from October 19 to 27.
I'm a general partner at LTF, so read this section knowing I'm not neutral. If you're building a startup yourself, LTF's funding process is a coffee chat and a pitch to the board, and LTF says decisions come quickly. LTF says the founder has to be a UChicago undergraduate and LTF has to be the first check. LTF's portfolio page runs from 2018 and lists Y Combinator-backed companies such as Simmer, Freestyle and Perspectives Health. When LTF announced Fund 1 in January 2025, it said its investments had raised over $3 million in seed funding the year before. LTF says it helps founders decide which accelerator to apply to.
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Midway, the consulting side
Midway has run since 2014 and is a registered student organization. It does pro bono consulting for startups and venture firms and doesn't invest. It says no experience is required. Applying takes three rounds, a written application, an interview with a behavioral and a case part, and then a group case. Its blog says info-session attendance is tracked and counted in the application, so go to one.
Midway also runs the Chicago Venture Capital Competition, open to every UChicago student. With Career Advancement, it co-hosts the College Venture Capital Investment Competition in Winter Quarter, and the winner goes on to the February regional at Columbia. If Midway turns you down, it suggests entering the Chicago Venture Capital Competition.
What Career Advancement runs
Career Advancement ran its Venture Capital Immersion Program from September 22 to 25 this year. Its Venture Capital and Startups summer program puts students full-time at a VC firm or a venture-backed startup in San Francisco with a $5,000 stipend. Applications run March 5 to 31, 2027, for first- through third-years. There is also a two-day Startups and VC trek to San Francisco over spring break, $150, applications due January 19.
Programs that are Booth-only
Several venture programs that come up in search are for Booth students only. Booth's Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club is for Booth full-time students, and the Booth VC competition is Booth-only. Polsky's PE/VC Lab says it is not open to undergraduates outside Booth. The four groups at the top of this page take College students. Blueprint lists every registered student organization, so you can check any other group there.
The startup clubs, if you want to build
If you want to start something yourself, the founder clubs are separate groups. Edge calls itself the undergraduate organization for entrepreneurship at UChicago. ILC, founded in 2003, has a Startup division next to its Finance one, with competitive membership, and runs a 100 Day Startup Challenge and Startup Fest. Windy Ventures is a startup community with founder brunches and dinners.
Edge, ILC and LTF are the three I joined, and I'm a general partner at LTF. In my experience, the clubs give you people and exposure, and that matters in first year. How to do startups at UChicago covers building.
More guides for founders
UChicago startups covers the New Venture Challenge and who won it this year, the College New Venture Challenge guide has the dates, and startup funding lines up every source of money. For when each industry recruits, the recruiting guide has the calendar.
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Questions people ask
What is the best startup club at UChicago?
It depends on the side you want. To invest in student startups, one option is LTF Ventures, a student-run fund that gives non-equity grants. I'm a general partner there, so I'm not neutral. To build, Edge is the undergraduate organization for entrepreneurship, and ILC has a Startup division that runs a 100 Day Startup Challenge. Edge, ILC and LTF are the three I joined.
Does UChicago have a venture capital club?
Yes. LTF Ventures is one option, and I'm a general partner there, so I'm not neutral. It is a student-run fund that invests in student startups without taking equity, and Midway Ventures does pro bono consulting for startups and venture firms. Booth's Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club is only for Booth full-time students.
How do you join LTF Ventures?
Join the list on ltf.vc/join. LTF's join page lists applications from October 19 to 27, says LTF takes only a few associates a year, and says it does not recruit fourth-years. I'm a general
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