Venture Camp is an entrepreneurship education initiative for ambitious high school students interested in business, startups, and tech. During our rigorous summer programs, high school students learn tech skills to solve a problem and become co-founder/CEO of a real business with users and even revenue.

For summer 2026, we are offering 3 session dates:
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Summer Batch I: 4-week Virtual Immersive —Monday June 22nd - Friday July 17th 2026
- 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET
- Students should expect 5-10 hours of independent/group work time outside of live session
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‍Summer Batch II: 1-week In-person Intensive (West Coast - San Francisco) — Monday July 27th - Friday July 31st 2026
- 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM PT
- Demo Day 5:00 PM PT Friday July 31st
- Daily lunch and snacks provided
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Summer Batch III: 1-week In-person Intensive (East Coast - Philadelphia) —Monday August 3rd - Friday August 7th 2026
- 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM ET
- Demo Day 5:00 PM PT Friday August 7th
- Daily lunch and snacks provided
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Venture Camp programs support students through the complete process of creating a startup, from identifying a business idea, launching an initial product, and gaining customer traction. Join the Venture Camp 4-week Virtual Immersive program from anywhere for deep dive into entrepreneurship, or attend one of our two 1-week Intensive programs to speed-run your startup launch. You will join a community of talented and ambitious high school students to team up and launch your business. Founded by exited VC-backed entrepreneurs and Wharton/UPenn graduates, our program bridges Silicon Valley startup practices and coursework from leading MBA programs. 

The program experience blends a best-in-class instruction and workshops with hands-on experience. Each day, there will be live instruction and workshops about topics like ideation, customer discovery, minimum viable product, and sales. Additionally, students will have structured collaboration time to test, problem solve, and build their idea in small groups and with personalized support. 

Venture Camp is unique because students are building real businesses and learning by launching, talking to customers, and getting users. We fundamentally believe that high school students can create real businesses, and that the best way to learn entrepreneurship is by doing it in the market. Students will leave Venture Camp as the founder of their own startup and having launched a product/service with traction!

Also, it’s the only program led by real exited and venture-backed entrepreneurs (who are actively founding/running businesses). You’ll get mentorship from entrepreneurs, industry experts, and business leaders from Wharton, OpenAI, Stanford, DoorDash, McKinsey, and more.

The 4-week Venture Camp Virtual Immersive is an entirely virtual program.
The 1-week Venture Camp In-person Intensive programs are currently offered in cities on the West and East Coast. Summer 2026 locations are San Francisco and Philadelphia.

You can download our detailed brochure by going to our home page and finding the brochure.

For our summer programs: student entrepreneurs engage in a mix of curriculum, guest speakers, and labs over the course of the program to launch their own business. For the 4-week Virtual program, expected commitment is ~20-25 hours per week with live sessions from 12:00 PM ET to 3:00 PM ET. For the 1-week In-person program, the sessions take place from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM local time. In addition to the live session time, which will be used for guest speakers, labs, lecture, and more, students will do independent work on their business project with their teams.

In addition to the above programming, there will be organized community building events so participants can hang out and get to know each other outside of the projects!

Unlike traditional academic programs, Venture Camp offers a unique, experiential learning environment where students actively build a startup, gaining practical skills in business, technology, and leadership.

Our summer entrepreneurship program is instructed, run, and mentored by real and current entrepreneurs. You will be learning from entrepreneurs who are actively in the early and later stages of building successful companies.

No, you do not need to have a business idea before applying. Venture Camp is designed to inspire and guide students through the process of ideation, validation, and execution, helping them to discover and develop their entrepreneurial vision during the program.

Absolutely. You will leave Venture Camp as the co-founder and CXO of your own business with traction. You can continue your business as an independent student, or submit it to competitions like Conrad, Diamond and Blue Ocean. 

Participation in Venture Camp demonstrates initiative, leadership, and problem-solving skills—qualities highly valued by colleges, internship programs, and employers. The experience provides a compelling narrative for applications and interviews, showcasing your ability to drive results and make an impact.

During Venture Camp, you will build a network that will propel you ahead for years. You’ll work with and learn from successful entrepreneurs, recent graduates from world-class universities (like Stanford, Wharton/UPenn’s Jerome Fisher Management & Technology Program, Harvard, MIT), and industry professionals from OpenAI/DoorDash/McKinsey.

The program is ideal for high school students who are curious, motivated, and passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation. No prior experience in business or technology is required—just an open mind and a commitment to learning and taking initiative.

To apply, visit the Venture Camp website and complete the application form here. The process includes questions to understand your interests and goals, followed by an informal interview to further explore your fit for the program and address any questions you may have.

Venture Camp seeks ambitious and motivated students, focusing on their potential to contribute and grow rather than just academic achievements. In order to maintain a tight-knit community and low ratio of instructor/mentor:student, there are a select number of student entrepreneur spots available.

However, the most important quality we’re looking for is motivation and genuine curiosity. We welcome all types of students—those interested in business/STEM as well as students interested in the arts or those unsure but curious—to apply!

Tuition covers our experienced instruction team, curriculum, classes, mentorship by entrepreneurs in all timezones, access to the platforms necessary to attend the program, special startup resources, and remote recreational activities for our virtual programs and venue costs for our in-person programs.

Tuition for the 4-Week Virtual Immersive program is $2,900 if enrolled before May 1, and $3,200 thereafter.
Tuition for the 1-Week In-Person Intensive program is $1,500 if enrolled before May 1, and $1,800 thereafter.

Yes, Venture Camp provides financial aid on a needs-basis and a limited number of merit-based scholarships to ensure that motivated students can participate regardless of their financial situation. Merit-based scholarships for Summer 2026 will be announced in February.

Please email scholarship@venturecamp.org for more information on scholarship/aid. You will also receive a link to apply in your acceptance email.

Venture Camp is a passion-driven education initiative started by serial Silicon Valley venture-backed entrepreneurs and Wharton/University of Pennsylvania graduates. We started the program because we believe ambitious young people can build real businesses and launch incredible products with the right support and guidance. 

We saw a need for an experience where aspiring high school entrepreneurs learned from real entrepreneurs and via creating and launching in the market, not behind a desk in a classroom.

Launch Workshops are a series of virtual workshops accessible by all high school students interested in entrepreneurship, business, and tech. Venture Camp will be hosting Launch Workshops in Spring 2026 to maximize accessibility of careers in entrepreneurship and technology.