The Hatch is a 10-week immersive program that takes student and alumni business ideas from their brains to the stage.

Once selected to be part of The Hatch, each BGSU student entrepreneur, or Hatchling, is paired with an alumni mentor who guides them through the entire process.

The alumni mentor works with their Hatchling during a 10-week immersive program to learn skills such as creating a budget and developing their product or service idea. Then, the Hatchlings present their business ideas to alumni investors during The Hatch to vie for funds to launch their businesses in a format similar to the popular television show “Shark Tank.”

What sets The Hatch apart from similar events is that the BGSU alumni investors make equity investments providing real money for students to incubate real businesses. To date, more than $800,000 has been pledged for investment in student ideas.