The University of Miami has announced a $5 million gift in support of an accelerator focused on student startups.

The gift from alumnus Angel Alvarez, founder and chair of ABB OPTICAL, and his family, will establish the University Student Startup Accelerator (USTAAR) program. Open to any student or student team from any area of the university, USTAAR will help nurture and support their ideas from inception to implementation.

A portion of the gift will provide seed funding to 20 student-led teams each year. The grants, awarded through a competitive process, will enable teams to advance their ideas from concept to prototype, minimum viable product, and feasibility testing. The process culminates with a Shark Tank-style pitch competition that will yield five finalists to receive further funding; the goal is for the five teams to progress to startups and reach the market within three years of initiation. The USTAAR program will include scholarships for underrepresented minority student entrepreneurs and high-impact, cross-disciplinary training programs focusing on various aspects of entrepreneurship.

“Imagine a future where our students’ brilliant ideas not only spark innovation but also translate into real-world solutions, improving lives and industries,” said Guillermo Prado, University of Miami interim executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. “This gift fuels that vision by bridging the gap between academic research and commercialization. Thanks to our donors’ generosity, we’re empowering students to become the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs, their boundless creativity guided by expert mentorship.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/gregobagel)