Normal

The University is currently operating under normal conditions

INNOVATION AT
CAROLINA

Carolina is a place where innovators and entrepreneurs make a human, social and economic impact. We make purposeful transformations in the world by putting important ideas to use for the public good in North Carolina and beyond.

In the heart of an innovation district

Innovation happens at the intersection of campus and community at Carolina. Just a few steps from our classrooms and labs, you find yourself in downtown Chapel Hill’s quickly emerging innovation district. This is where promising startups, innovation-oriented companies and impact-driven nonprofits come to grow and converge with talented Tar Heels. It’s a place where local entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and top researchers coalesce to find inventive ways to work together. New markets emerge, careers expand and businesses thrive. In Chapel Hill, college town means entrepreneurial epicenter.

Exterior of the Innovate Carolina Junction.

A hub for your innovation and impact

Innovate Carolina is the University-wide initiative for innovation and entrepreneurship that provides a full-scale innovation hub for today’s impact-driven problem solvers. By visiting the Innovate Carolina Junction, an innovation hub and coworking space in the heart of downtown Chapel Hill, you can connect with an active entrepreneurial network. Tap into services and resources designed for students, faculty, alumni and people in local communities who want to launch startup companies, take new research discoveries to market and move important initiatives into the world.

QUVI founders Kush Jain (right) and Harshul Makwana (left) working on their initial water bottle sanitation prototype for the UNC Makeathon.

By the numbers:
Tar Heel startup statewide impact (FY25)

    “Carolina’s innovation ecosystem demonstrates the power of a public university to drive statewide impact. Through Carolina-affiliated startups, translational research and industry collaborations, we are transforming breakthrough ideas into companies, jobs and solutions that strengthen communities across North Carolina and beyond. As Carolina expands its leadership in innovation and emerging technologies, we are helping shape the state’s future economy while advancing innovation for the public good.”

    Tommy Sowers, vice chancellor for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development and chief innovation officer

    Tommy Sowers posing for portrait in lobby of Innovate Carolina Junction.

    Innovation and economic development for NC communities

    Tar Heels don’t rest idly on campus. We’re busy making our communities better places to work and live. Our passion for innovation and economic impact is reflected in our ongoing collaboration with the Town of Chapel Hill and other academic, government and industry partners across the region and state. Together, we’re accelerating local economic vibrancy, expanding career opportunities for students, and broadening the opportunities for businesses and other community organizations across Chapel Hill and beyond.

    Explore Carolina