✈️ Help Me Launch My Global Startup Journey in Portugal
Hi, I’m Avery Payne — a student entrepreneur, lifelong learner, and builder of meaningful solutions for real-world problems. This summer, I’ve been accepted into the European Innovation Academy (EIA) in Porto, Portugal — one of the world’s top tech entrepreneurship programs. I'm also earning my B.A. in Legal Studies from UC Berkeley this spring and hope to attend law school in the future to complement my entrepreneurial work.
I'm reaching out to help make this life-changing opportunity a reality.
Why EIA
The European Innovation Academy is more than just a summer program — it’s an intense, hands-on startup accelerator where I’ll join 500+ students, mentors, and tech leaders from across the globe. Over the course of 3 weeks, I’ll:
Build and launch a startup from scratch with an international team
Be mentored by professionals from Google, Meta, and top VC firms
Learn from experts in design thinking, AI, and lean startup methods
Compete for global startup recognition
This is the kind of experience that transforms student entrepreneurs into future founders — and I’m ready to take the leap, but need your help.
My Mission
My entrepreneurial passion is rooted in creating solutions that serve and connect communities, especially in the public safety and training space. I’m currently building a platform to support first responders, helping them store credentials, find trainings, and connect with each other. (Think LinkedIn meets Coursera for emergency professionals.)
Attending the EIA will help me:
Sharpen my product development skills
Learn how to scale community-driven platforms globally
Network with mission-driven creators and mentors
Close the female founder funding gap
How You Can Help
The total cost of the program (tuition, housing, travel, and food) is around $9,000. I’m already receiving scholarship funding and covering as much as I can through part-time work while also finishing up my last full-time semester at Berkeley, but I still need to raise $5,000 to close the gap.
Your support would go directly toward:
Program tuition and housing in Portugal
Round-trip travel expenses
Meals and transportation while abroad
Every dollar gets me closer to this dream and closer to launching the kind of company that can make a real difference in the first responder community.
Let’s Build This Together
If you can donate — even $5 helps — thank you. If you can’t but still want to support, sharing this page with your network would mean the world.
I’ll be documenting the journey and sharing updates on LinkedIn if you’d like to follow along.
Let’s make this happen, go bears!
With gratitude,
Avery Payne
Founder | Student | Visionary
Organizer
