We do the work alongside founders.
Penn's first student-run venture studio — small teams paired with early-stage founders for a full semester.
Altus started because our founder got rejected from every club he applied to freshman year and ended up working at a startup instead. That turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. After a year of building, operating, and working in VC, he wanted to bring that same opportunity to more Penn students — and help early-stage founders get the support they can't afford yet.
Our principles
Animare
We want Altus to be a pillar of entrepreneurial spirit at Penn — a place that makes people curious about building, even if they never saw themselves as founders. The goal isn't better slide-makers. It's showing people a path they didn't know was there.
Navare
Excellence is non-negotiable. The founders we work with are putting everything into their companies. The least we can do is match that energy. If the work isn't good enough to use, we haven't done our job.
Where our board has worked
Come build with us.
We're always looking for people who'd rather do the work than talk about it.