About the Wind River Startup Challenge
In partnership with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes, the Wind River Startup Challenge is stimulating entrepreneurship in the Wind River Basin and providing tribal and community members access to business training, an entrepreneurial network and access to seed funding to launch businesses.
The program offers free business training and mentorship to participants over three months, culminating with an in-person Pitch Day for those who complete the program requirements.
The Wind River Start-Up Challenge is for new ventures created and managed by Wind River Basin community members and including new ventures launched by licensing university technology.
WRSC participants receive:
- 10 business skills capacity building workshops in March, April and May 2025, which are also free and open to the public.
- Bi-weekly one-on-one business coaching for all interested 2025 WRSC program participants.
- The opportunity to pitch their business at Pitch Day, giving access to seed funding and exposure of their business idea.
- Facilitated networking sessions with WRSC alumni, current WRSC participants and other Native entrepreneurs.
- Region-wide media coverage.
Background
The WRSC began as a joint endeavor of the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and the University of Wyoming Office for Research and Economic Development. For its first three years, the WRSC was facilitated by IMPACT 307, a state-chartered development program and business incubator located on the University of Wyoming campus. In 2022, the WRSC secured an additional five years of funding through a generous grant by EPSCoR.
Wind River Startup Challenge 