The Dry Dock

Spring 2026: Frontier Tech

April 30th to May 6th

Where the Next Wave of Unicorns Launch

The Dry Dock is a unique, university-led venture studio model at Vanderbilt University designed to optimize both the jockey and the horse to launch the next generation of unicorns. More robust than a hackathon but more flexible than a traditional venture studio, the Dry Dock combines students, alumni, and faculty to build real companies solving validated challenges at the near frontier. Challenges will be solved with quantum software, robotics, drones, and machine learning.

Participant Application

Submit a Challenge

Sponsor Brochure

Prizes:

$75,000 in Cash Prizes

All Winners get an all Expenses Paid Trip to Pitch during Tech Week NYC

$15k value

Future of Mobility Challenge Winner gets to Pitch at the UpSummit

$125k value

In Kind Prizes from sponsors including Cooley, IBM, Hubspot, & Carta

$100k value

Speakers

Scott Riddey

SVP Global Creative Strategy, Walt Disney Imagineering

Chuck Black

Deputy Lab Director, Brookhaven Quantum Advantage Lab

Alex Luna

Founder & CEO, AlphaRail

Seun Omonije

Founder & CEO, Stealth Quantum Startup

Chris Crist

Chief Information Officer, Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport

Bryan Power

Head of People, Atomic Machines

Scott Weaver

AVP Cloud & Edge Computing Sales, Akamai Technologies

Ryan McKenney

Director of Governmental Relations, Quantinuum

Jonathan Felbinger

Deputy Director, QED-C

Vandiver Chaplin

Principal Engineer, IonQ

Andrew Gunther

Partner, Cooley LLP

More Speakers TBA

Apply to Participate in the Dry Dock

How it Works

The Dry Dock sits at the intersection of academia, industry, and entrepreneurship.

We source high-impact problems directly from development partners and corporate sponsors, then assemble founder-led teams to validate, build and commercialize solutions. Each cohort operates with the urgency of a startup and the support of a world-class university ecosystem.

This is not a pitch competition or classroom simulation—it’s a company-building platform.

Problem-First Venture Creation

The Dry Dock begins with meaningful, sponsor-defined challenges rooted in real market demand. Teams focus on solving problems customers are already motivated to pay for.

Evidence-Based Team Formation

Alumni and students are matched using evidence-based principles shown to increase startup success—optimizing for complementary skills, experience, and execution capability rather than self-selection alone.

Alumni-led, Student-Powered

Alumni founders lead ventures as operators and decision-makers. Students join teams in functional roles—product, engineering, go-to-market, operations—gaining hands-on experience building alongside seasoned entrepreneurs.

Expert-Support, Real Momentum

Teams are supported by Vanderbilt alumni and faculty experts as they validate market dynamics, refine products, and kickstart their growth engines. The focus is execution, learning speed, and real-world traction.