Venture Capital Program
The Venture Capital Program provides a rigorous academic foundation in investment analysis and startup development for early-stage ventures, along with impactful experiential learning opportunities to prepare for careers in finance and investments, general management and as an entrepreneur.
The Venture Capital Program is coordinated by the International Business and Entrepreneurship Centre and consists of the following elements:
Certificate in Venture Capital Studies
Students enrolled in the MBA program will earn a Certificate in Venture Capital Studies upon completion of these four courses:
- MBA 6114 Venture Creation and Entrepreneurship
- MBA 6115 Market Opportunity Analysis
- MBA 6188 Venture Assessment (offered in partnership with the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation)
- MBA 6111 Entrepreneurial Consulting (offered in partnership with Creative Destruction Lab)
Fraser Student Venture Fund
UNB alumnus Charles Fraser established the Fraser Student Venture Fund so students could live the experience of investing real cash in local start-ups.
Each year, up to two start-ups are selected to receive pre-seed investments of up to $25,000 each from the fund, positioning them for further development.
Venture Capital Investment Competition
The Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) is the world's largest venture capital competition, with over 120 university and graduate school teams competing. Judged by active venture capitalists, the competition provides UNB students the opportunity to showcase their skills on both national and international stages. UNB MBA and BBA teams have been successful at the VCIC Canadian Regionals held each March at Saint Mary's University in Halifax:
2024: Second place, BBA Team; Entrepreneur's Choice, MBA Team
2022: Third place, MBA Team; Second place, BBA Team
2020: First place, MBA Team; Entrepreneur's Choice, BBA Team
2018: First place, MBA Team
Learn more about our success at VCIC:
2020: UNB venture assessment students pass the test with top prize!
2018: Calm under pressure: UNB team wins top prize at VCIC
Guest speakers
As part of the McCain Speaker Series, we bring in people in private equity, entrepreneurship and venture capital to speak to students and connect with and network and eat.
Past speakers, active in entreprenerurship and venture capital
- Habib Dable, CEO, Acceleron Pharmaceuticals
- Shane Feeney, Managing Director, Northleaf Capital Partners
- Curtis Kennedy, CEO, Vertiball
- Dawn Pottier, CEO, Lulujo
- James Grannan, COO, Lastwall
- Brian Flood, Co-Founder and CEO, Q1 Labs
- William Stanley, CEO, Fundy Cable & Atlantic Hydrogen
- Philip Curley, CEO, Hotspot
- Terry and Kathy Malley, Malley Industries
- Sean Dunbar, Founder, Northampton Brewing
- David Ganong, Chairman, Ganong Bros.
CVCA
The Faculty of Management works closely with the Canadian Venture Capital Association to provide learning opportunities for BBA and MBA students.
CVCA Diversity Internship Program: This annual program gives UNB students opportunity to apply and be considered to do summer internships in venture capital firms. Applications typically in December.
NBIF partnership
The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) is New Brunswick’s leading venture capital organization. The team at NBIF contributes to the Venture Capital Program through teaching our Venture Assessment course, mentoring students competing at VCIC and acting as judges for the Apex Startup Challenge.
