Lantern Point Labs, a non-profit, pre-accelator program for startup founders, began with a feeling familiar to many entrepreneurs, the spark of a big idea, followed by the sudden weight of “What now?” Now, into year two of their journey, LPL is gearing up to opening applications to accept their second-ever cohort of student interns this week.
Founder and Executive Director Christian O’Rourke ‘24, MSF ‘26, a longtime participant of the Fairfield StartUp program, continuously saw that “What now?” moment up close.
Founders were stepping off of the Fairfield Start-Up Showcase stage inspired, energized, and with strong foundations, but then were quickly confronted with practical realities of raising capital, incorporating, building a product and bringing it to market. These are the kinds of questions early-stage founders everywhere face, but Christian realized Fairfield’s broader community, students, alumni, faculty, parents of alumni and even Fairfield Prep graduates, had entrepreneurs running into the exact same challenges.
Rather than create a traditional incubator, O’Rourke designed a model leveraging the community, pairing interdisciplinary student “intern” teams with seasoned alumni experts. “The idea was simple, really. Meet founders where they are in their journey of entrepreneurship, give them hands-on support, and connect them with advisors who could help them fundraise and build their strategy to be ready to launch to customers,” O’Rourke said. “It’s fulfilling to unite a community around founders, learn from shared struggles, and help create opportunities where everyone grows.”
The result is a system where founders get tailored, stage-appropriate help, students gain real-world experience, and alumni reconnect with a strong entrepreneurial network where they can give back and stay engaged. The model was proven during Lantern Point’s pilot cohort last spring. Four alumni-founded ventures, from medtech to climatetech to fintech, worked side-by-side with their student and expert teams.
Student teams delivered projects in market research, financial modeling, and technical scoping, while experts facilitated strategic introductions and connections at pitch sessions and networking events which helped drive investor conversations.
Some tangible outcomes included SilkMed securing $75,000 in non-dilutive grants and GreenIRR generating numerous qualified customer demos.
30 students and young professionals have participated so far, gaining experience in go-to-market strategy, fundraising readiness, and product validation. The program reports a 73% placement rate into internships or jobs after participation, demonstrating the dual benefit of serving startup founders while preparing the next generation of talent.
“At a time when I was looking to take the next step in my career, this fellowship gave me the hands-on experience, mentorship, and community support I needed to grow—and ultimately connect with the network that hired me full-time after the program,” said Fairfield graduate Genevieve Pike ‘23.
Now, Lantern Point Labs is preparing for its next student cohort beginning in January. Project Manager applications open on Friday and the deadline to apply is Dec. 3. For more information, visit https://lanternpointlabs.org/ or contact O’Rourke at corourke@lanternpointlabs.org.
What started with Christian’s “What now?”-moment as a student, has grown into a community-powered platform helping Fairfield founders and future leaders take their next step with confidence.