Are you an AI visionary ready to scale your startup and shape the future of technology?

The Heersink AI Founders Club offers you the opportunity to join an exclusive community of innovators, supported by the UAB AI Community. This pilot initiative provides selected startups with mentorship, resources, and peer support to accelerate growth in next-generation AI technologies.

Program Overview

The Heersink AI Founders Club is a selective pilot program designed to empower four early-stage AI startups specializing in deep tech innovations. Spanning a minimum of two months, participants will benefit from tailored mentorship, founder-to-founder collaboration, and access to the extensive UAB AI ecosystem. As a pilot, this program will evolve with your input, giving you the chance to shape its future direction over the next three years with the intention to building a lasting founder support community.

Rooted in the Marnix E. Heersink Institute for Biomedical Innovation's mission to fuel digital innovation across the globe, the AI Founders Club empowers high-potential, deep tech AI startups with resources, expertise, and a tight-knit founder community. Tailored for founders, it emphasizes peer-to-peer learning and strategic growth.

Objectives

• Accelerate Growth: Support deep tech AI startups in scaling their solutions.
• Foster Collaboration: Create a vibrant community for knowledge-sharing among AI founders.
• Strengthen Innovation: Position Alabama as a global leader in healthcare AI advancements.
• Increase Innovation Density: Establish Birmingham as a Healthcare AI innovation hub.

What We Offer

Selected startups will receive:

• Training and Mentorships: Equity-free training, mentorship, and strategic support tailored to AI startups.
• Founder-to-Founder Support: Exclusive peer-learning opportunities with fellow AI founders.
• Open Innovation Workshop: Explore collaborative strategies for growth and innovation.
• UAB Ecosystem Connections: Links to funding, networking, and EU programs based on your needs.
• Financial Support: Up to $1,500 per startup to cover travel and accommodation costs for program events.
• Visibility and Community: Recognition within the UAB ecosystem and ongoing support as part of a prestigious founder pool.

Who Should Apply

We’re seeking UAB early-stage AI startups that have disruptive, high-risk, high-reward healthcare innovations in areas like:

• Data-Centric AI
• Generative AI
• Prompt Engineering
• Multiagent Systems
• AI TRiSM (Trust, Risk, Security Management)
• Artificial General Intelligence
• Are ready with a market-ready prototype or MVP
• Are targeting pre-seed or seed fundraising and need team scaling.

Assessment Criteria

Applications are evaluated based on:

• Degree of Innovation: How transformative and innovative is your technology?
• Market Potential: Size and growth of your target market.
• Scalability: Ability to grow rapidly and efficiently.
• Risk Level: Balanced risk-taking with mitigation strategies.
• Visionary Team: Expertise and entrepreneurial drive.
• Feasibility: Practicality of your disruptive vision.
• High Reward Potential: Expected returns on investment.
• Strategic Fit: Alignment with EU goals and EIT ecosystem.

Program & Timelines

Application Review process

• Call for Applications: We invite start-ups to submit their high-risk, high-gain solutions, highlighting the disruptive nature of their AI technologies and their potential to generate substantial returns on investment – Deadline 30, June 2025.

• Initial Screening: An independent expert panel will evaluate the submitted applications. Each application is assessed by at least three independent external experts. Each expert evaluates the proposals following the evaluation criteria outlined above.

• Review Gate: During the Review Gate, the experts come together to discuss each application based on their own individual assessments and assign in consensus a Review Gate Score. Based on the results, due Diligence Interviews might be requested afterwards following a Consensus Meeting with digital & AI experts to align the scores. The highest scoring applications that have passed any relevant thresholds will be selected.

• All applicants will receive the feedback and the “go/no go” result by July 15, 2025.

Program Services: Business Boost

• Selected finalists (4) will receive self-paced, tailored support until the end of the year.

• Mentorship: Strategic guidance to further develop

• Scale high-risk, high-gain AI innovations: Management, Team Dynamics

• Business Development, Sales Marketing, Product market fit

• Access to Finance: Investor relations

• On demand: Webinars with high-profile speakers, Problem-focused mentoring, HR

• Pitching and Persuasion Training

• Investment Events: The selected start-ups will pitch their refined business plans and investment propositions to a wider audience of potential investors, corporations, and strategic partners.

• Visibility and Recognition: The winning start-ups will receive recognition and visibility within the UAB and Alabama AI ecosystem. We can connect them with funding/scaling opportunities and give them visibility and support through our AI events.

• Community support: The selected startups will become part of a prestigious pool, receiving ongoing support in the coming years. As this is a pilot year, additional activities will be introduced in the future.

• Financial support: Travel and accommodation costs may be included in the program up to $1,500 per start-up.

FAQs

How much does the program cost? 
The program is free of charge for the selected start-ups.

Does the program require me to physically attend the activities?
The three-month training will be online and in person, but the participation in the event will require a physical presence in Birmingham.

What does the selection process look like?
The applicants will be ranked according to the criteria noted here, and the final decision as to the participants will be made by the selection committee. Applicants will receive responses by 15th July 2025. If you wish to submit a complaint about the answer you got following the selection process, you can email us: mhibi@uab.edu. Please explain your complaint as clearly as possible. The deadline is July 30, 2025.

What can I expect as an outcome of the program?
As an outcome of the program, you can expect to receive tailored mentorship and strategic guidance, opportunities to secure funding and form strategic alliances through investment events, and enhanced visibility and recognition within the Alabama AI ecosystem, potentially leading to further growth, and scaling opportunities.

Do you have open office hours for more information?
Please send us an email to mhibi@uab.edu, and we will organize a meeting with you.