A new chapter for U of A student entrepreneurship
Startup Wildcats and Tech Launch Arizona staff pose with students who have won milestone funding checks at a 2025 Startup Night pitch competition.
Tech Launch Arizona
Throughout the past year, student entrepreneurship has had a home in the Startup Wildcats program at Tech Launch Arizona, the commercialization arm of the University of Arizona. As of Fall 2025, the Startup Wildcats student entrepreneurship program has transitioned to the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship. This strategic move consolidates curricular and co-curricular programming for undergraduates under one central unit, expanding access and amplifying impact for undergraduate and graduate students across the U of A.
Two central Startup Wildcats resources, Startup Tree and Student Made Arizona, continue to be available, ensuring continuity for students and teams already engaged in entrepreneurial activities.
New Leadership
Julie Barbier Bularzik
Startup Wildcats Venture Development Education Coordinator Julie Barbier Bularzik has joined the McGuire Center team, where she helps lead co-curricular programming in collaboration with existing initiatives. As a key member of the Venture Programs team, she plays a pivotal role in advancing the Center’s mission to serve as a unified hub and premier destination for entrepreneurial activity across campus. Bularzik will continue to apply her expertise and deep commitment to fostering student innovation in this role.
Startup Wildcats team members Derick Maggard, Kelly King, and Paul Valdez remain at Tech Launch Arizona, where they are taking on new roles focused on supporting the primary mission of TLA, moving U of A innovations into the market.
Looking Ahead
With a rich history of student entrepreneurship at the U of A and a growing number of programs emerging from the McGuire Center, the College of Engineering, and the Honors College, Tech Launch Arizona is renewing its focus on supporting technology-driven ventures aligned with the university’s strategic research strengths.
“Startup Wildcats demonstrated the power of student-driven entrepreneurship to energize our campus and spark new ideas,” said Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships. “Building on that success, we’re now uniting TLA’s undergraduate initiatives with broader campus programs to focus more intentionally on engaging students in deep tech ventures grounded in university discoveries.”
Celebrating Impact: Startup Wildcats 2024–2025
Over the past year, through support from generous supporters such as Ray Zinn, Frank and Dafna Letterman, Harry Wilcox, and Empire Pizza, Startup Wildcats has had remarkable and measurable success:
- 522 students participated in Startup Wildcats programs, workshops and trainings, with 18 of 22 academic colleges represented.
- Two new platforms, Startup Tree and Student-Made Arizona, made their debut to provide community, connection, resources and infrastructure for student entrepreneurial activity.
- Students launched 78 ventures, tackling challenges in agriculture, healthcare, education, wellness and more.
- $20,000 in milestone funding was awarded across 20 applications to advance venture milestones.
TLA Associate Vice President Doug Hockstad noted, “We are extremely proud of the impact the Startup Wildcats team has made over the past year, and we look forward to seeing those seeds grow under the leadership at the McGuire Center.”
Executive Director of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship Bob Griffin also shared his appreciation: “We are excited to continue the great momentum of cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship programming that Startup Wildcats initiated over the past year.”
Going forward, all undergraduate students seeking to engage with Startup Wildcats should contact the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship team at entre.net@eller.arizona.edu or connect directly with Bularzik at jbularzik@arizona.edu.