Mission

Founded in 2023 and housed in the Information School at the University of Washington, the iStartup Lab helps iSchool students develop entrepreneurial skills and launch data-driven social impact startups, as well as other innovation-driven social impact organizations.

We aim to create academic and professional opportunities for entrepreneurially-minded students across all of the iSchool’s academic programs, including Informatics, MLIS, MSIM, Museology, and Ph.D.

In support of the iSchool’s Grand Challenges, we teach student founders how to analyze startup companies and other innovation-driven organizations through a social impact lens and integrate social impact into the fabric of newly-created organizations, using frameworks including the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Value Sensitive Design.

For examples of how the iStartup Lab is helping student founders develop and launch new concepts, see the January 2024 article on iStartup Lab gives student entrepreneurs a boost and the September 2024 article on iStartup Lab awards first micro grants to students, alumni.