The Dry Dock

Where Vanderbilt Founders Build What's Next

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 studio, the Dry Dock combines students, alumni, and faculty to build real companies solving validated challenges.

The Dry Dock is where the next wave of unicorns launch.

Spring 2026: Frontier Tech

Sponsors:

Speakers:

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.