Iona College has officially launched GaelVentures, the startup incubator space at the New Rochelle college’s Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
The college’s announcement today described the incubator as a support for student programming and as a resource for New Rochelle and the county. Iona said the venue, at 748 North Ave., will provide startup support, mentorship and funding to students and other entrepreneurs. The school will host its first incubator event at 6 p.m. on Oct. 24. The Westchester Tech Meetup will allow entrepreneurs and Iona students to discuss business ideas.
The incubator space is the temporary home for The Hynes Institute. The college launched the institute this year after it was endowed with a $15 million gift from James and Anne Marie Hynes of Greenwich.
James Hynes, a 1969 Iona graduate and successful entrepreneur in the telecom industry, told the Business Journal in March that the institute will help bolster the value of an Iona degree by teaching entrepreneurial skills and thinking. The institute is co-sponsored by the college”™s School of Business and its School of Arts & Science.
Christoph Winkler, founding Hynes Institute program director, said in a statement that the goal of the program is to “create a community of student entrepreneurs and innovators by providing entrepreneurial learning opportunities for all students across the Iona College community.”