火花! Launch Lab

The SPARK! Launch Lab is a tech incubator program for college students – the place where you and other select students can take your prototype to the next level. The Launch Lab focuses exclusively on the development aspects of a technical product where you and your team build features, test with end users, and hone your product strategy.

Tech Innovation

We are a tech incubator built for the technologist, the builders, the creators who want don’t want to wait to launch product out in market.

Industry Practices

We pair academic programming with industry best practices – expert coaching, product strategy consultations, tech council reviews, agile sprint planning

Community Engagement

We are here to create a community, to inspire innovation, learn from others, and have some laughs and food along the way – yes, there’s pizza, even better empanadas ;)

Participation Tracks

Course Credit: enroll in DS299, a two-credit course
Paid Stipend: receive a $500 stipend per semester (only BU students are eligible), limited to 4 team members
Ad Hoc: informal weekly sessions at Syntax & Snacks on Thursdays 4-7, and eligible to apply for an equipment & supplies stipend of up to $500 per team (no other compensation offered)

Meet the Teams!

Program Benefits
In the Launch Lab you will gain access to:

Course credit or a paid internship stipend of $500
Access to industry coaches
A community of student innovators who want to build products like you
Assistance finding design or technical teammates
Small funds to support operational costs such as software subscriptions
Community events for networking and peer innovation
Additional financial awards for those who excel at meeting Launch Lab milestones

Program StructureIn the Launch Lab teams gain access to industry mentors, structured activities to plan and track launch milestones, and opportunities to share their work with peers and industry experts. Core activities of the program include:

Coaching Sessions – review sprint progress, get feedback on product strategy, and have deep dive sessions to review code, UI screens, or plan your next validation test
Community Sessions – engage peer-2-peer or peer-2-expert sessions such as pitch workshops, product prioritization strategies or sharing lessons learned
Tech Council – designed to reflect industry practices, we have a mid-semester and end-of semester check in where industry and academic experts review team progress
Weekly Sprints – during the week work with your team to execute on sprint goals – build new features, integrations, new UX workflows, user testing, launch planning, etc.

Program Expectations
If you are accepted into the program, you and your teammates will be expected to meet the following program expectations:

Devote a minimum of five hours per week per team member to meet product launch milestones
Attend weekly stand-ups with the Launch Lab staff (Thursdays afternoon / evenings)
Present to the Spark Tech Council twice per semester
Document your journey

How to Apply
If you have a working prototype, you’re invited to apply. Students can apply as a team and we can help recruit teammates, or for individual students who want to join as a technical or design teammate, we encourage you to apply as well.

Have a working technical prototype – this is a gate to get into the program
Identify a team (or identified gaps) – minimum is two so you can work together to design, build and test your product
Apply to the Fall or Spring semester

Learn More

Additional Opportunities
The SPARK! Community provides a number of programs and informal opportunities to advance your technical innovation

Syntax & Snacks – informal tech sessions from 4-7pm on Thursdays where you get access to SPARK! Mentors to review your product / share ideas
XC 475 – foundational course to design, build and test prototypes; great place to start if you have a product idea and then you can apply for Launch Lab