Transform your university into a solution engine for global impact.

Through multidisciplinary collaboration, cutting-edge AI tools, and student-driven ventures, xFoundry transforms your campus into an engine of scalable innovation.

As a university there are two ways for you to join. You can become a full Alliance Member, or become a partner university for the Horizons Challenge.

Alliance Member
Horizons Partner

Alliance Member Benefits

Breaking silos, driving change, and unlocking potential.

Enhanced institutional prestige & visibility
Student success & employability
New funding streams
AI-powered Resource MatriX
National network access

Enhanced institutional prestige & visibility

  • Positions the university as a leader in solving global challenges (e.g., NASA 2040 vision)
  • Showcases innovations through high-profile events like the NEXPLORE 2040 Summit
  • Attracts media coverage and top-tier prospective students through student venture successes

Student success & employability

  • Structured stages guide students from problem identification to scalable venture launch with real funding opportunities along the way
  • Iterative project-based learning embedded in asynchronous courses combining theory with clear stakeholder validation
  • Students gain real startup experience and funded career pathways, dramatically boosting placement outcomes

New funding streams

  • Student venture acceleration through Xponential Fund ($250K-$2M investments for winning student ventures)
  • Founder's Pledge mechanism: 1-5% of venture profits reinvested in winning universities
  • Alliance Members tap Xponential-fund investments, corporate sponsorship frameworks, and grant-ready projects that offset program costs and generate fresh revenue

AI-powered Resource MatriX

  • CognoXent platform: AI-driven knowledge-sharing platform that breaks down academic silos, enabling universities to turn their research and expertise into faster, cross-disciplinary discoveries and real-world solutions
  • Xpress Studio: Professional AI-enabled marketing/content workflows and services for university ventures and programs to increase quality without increasing headcount
  • Industry relevant software tools: Professional AI-enabled marketing/content workflows and services for university ventures and programs to increase quality without increasing headcount

National network access

  • ConneXions engagement platform intelligently pairs mentors across institutions and corporations with student teams 
  • National competitions enable universities, and their affiliated community colleges to showcase their expertise against peer institutions
  • Shared mentor pool of Xperts across universities, lowering administrative expenses while amplifying impact

Horizons Partner Benefits

Students sourcing problems for students to solve.

Transformative student opportunities
Amplified institutional visibility
Low-commitment, high-impact engagement

Transformative student opportunities

  • Exclusive networking with CXOs, industry leaders, and investors during pitch events
  • Public recognition on xFoundry platforms for competition participants
  • Winning teams receive automatic entry + $10K stipend for the subsequent Xperience Competition.Finalists gain sponsored travel to NEXPLORE summits

Amplified institutional visibility

  • Co-branding opportunities with xFoundry and industry partners, such as NASA and Intel, in press releases and documentaries
  • Showcase university talent through live, engaging presentations at NEXPLORE Summits
  • Highlight multidisciplinary excellence: teams span Technology, Entrepreneurship, Arts and Athletics, Marketing, and Science
  • Direct engagement with leading industry partners, tackling challenges like NASA’s 2040 mission priorities, through structured working groups and interactive feedback sessions

Low-commitment, high-impact engagement

  • Participate without full xFoundry Alliance membership; No chapter launch required
  • Built-in recruitment tool: Attract students through competition prestige
  • Scalable involvement: teams can later transition to the full $2M Xperience Competition once the university joins the alliance
  • Join development councils to help guide the Horizons Challenge, working with xFoundry and industry to identify key problem areas and develop challenge topics
xFoundry's strategy and vision will empower our students to build scalable solutions that are going to help society.
Darryll Pines, Ph.D.
President at University of Maryland
What I find very important in what xFoundry is doing is the impact in the experience learning domain for all of our students. It goes beyond just entrepreneurship and apprenticeship.
Amitabh Varshney, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at University of Maryland
Through teamwork, collaboration and bold thinking, universities will help turn today's challenges into tomorrow's possibilities.
Christyl Johnson, Ph.D.
Deputy Associate Administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA
A partnership between our School of Pharmacy students and xFoundry would really be phenomenal.
Sarah L.J. Michel, Ph.D.
Dean at University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
I joined Xperience because it's not ordinary class. It's not taking notes. It's more practical. You build things and innovate. As a business major I don't get a chance to interact with other majors. So this is a nice and interdisciplinary class.
Saron Woldu '26
B.S. Business Information, B.S. Marketing at University of Maryland
Join the Alliance

Turn your university into a student innovation solution engine.