The OSU Advantage Accelerator team has been named the 2026 recipient of Oregon Entrepreneurs Network’s Tom Holce Community Catalyst Award, honoring its work supporting founders and entrepreneurs across Oregon. The award recognizes individuals and community organizations that strengthen entrepreneurship through connection, education and services.
For more than a decade, the OSU Advantage Accelerator has helped Oregon State University researchers and entrepreneurs across the state turn promising ideas into stronger companies through mentorship, entrepreneurial programming, connections to investors and access to funding and other resources. The Accelerator has supported more than 500 startup concepts, including 130 that became companies. A subset of those companies has raised approximately $800 million in follow-on funding.
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Karl Mundorff, executive director of innovation and entrepreneurship and director of the Accelerator at Oregon State University, said the award reflects the collaborative work behind the Accelerator and the broader community supporting entrepreneurs across the state.
“This recognition belongs to our entire team and to the founders, mentors, partners and supporters who make this work possible,” Mundorff said. “As stewards of the innovation ecosystem, our role is to strengthen that ecosystem through economic development efforts such as the Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology and help innovators and entrepreneurs make the right connections, strengthen their ideas and move promising ventures forward. The Tom Holce Community Catalyst Award is especially meaningful because it reflects the kind of community-building that is at the heart of what we do.”
The award comes shortly after the OSU Advantage Accelerator was ranked No. 23 on TIME’s 2026 list of America’s Best Startup Incubators and Accelerators. While the TIME ranking demonstrates the Accelerator’s national standing, the Tom Holce Community Catalyst Award recognizes its role within Oregon’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and its work supporting founders across the state.
The Accelerator offers programs for entrepreneurs at different stages of the startup journey, from early customer discovery to company formation, investment readiness and growth. Its clients include Oregon State faculty, students and regional entrepreneurs working across a wide range of industries and technologies.
The award will be presented at the 35th Annual Oregon Entrepreneurship Awards on Nov. 12, 2026, at the Sentinel Hotel in Portland.
The OSU Advantage Accelerator is part of OSU Advantage, Oregon State University’s innovation and commercialization enterprise, which connects researchers, entrepreneurs, industry and investors to help move innovations toward the marketplace and create economic impact in Oregon and beyond.
