U of Chicago to create $50 million entrepreneurship center

CHICAGO (AP) - The University of Chicago plans to create a $50 million entrepreneurship and innovation center.

The school announced late Monday that the center will be funded with a commitment of $50 million from University Trustee Michael Polsky, including a new $35 million gift. Polsky is the founder and CEO of Invenergy, which operates power generation and energy storage facilities in North American and Europe.

The school says the newly organized Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will combine activities of UChicago Tech, which helps launch starts-ups, and the Chicago Innovation Exchange. The exchange opened in October 2014 and has 2,200 members. It is incubating 20 companies and providing capital to start-ups via the $20 million UChicago Innovation Fund.

The new center will start operating in July.