FIRE Venture Fellows welcomes NMSU, UTEP students to 2026 cohort

Writer: Alejandro Najera-Acosta, 575-646-2025, a_najera@nmsu.edu 

The Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship, housed at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center, announces the selection of the 2026 cohort of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Economy Venture Fellows, a competitive fellowship program that prepares university students for careers in venture capital, startups, and innovation-driven organizations.

The Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship plays a central role in strengthening the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem by supporting diverse entrepreneurial talent, expanding access to early-stage capital, and creating experiential learning opportunities that connect students to real-world innovation and investment activity. 

The FIRE Venture Fellows program focuses on training students from the Borderplex region in the fundamentals of venture capital while addressing long-standing gaps in representation across the investment landscape. Limited diversity across gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background within venture capital continues to influence which ideas receive funding and which founders gain visibility. By increasing access to investment education and decision-making exposure, the program seeks to help break this cycle and contribute to a more inclusive innovation economy.

Through a structured, one-semester fellowship, FIRE Venture Fellows engage in an applied training and apprenticeship experience that combines classroom instruction with hands-on investment work. Fellows develop practical skills in market research, startup evaluation, financial analysis, due diligence, and the preparation of investment memoranda and investment theses. The program emphasizes critical thinking, analytical rigor, and ethical decision-making in early-stage investing.

The 2026 FIRE Venture Fellows program is hosted by Daniel Jones, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Arrowhead Center. Jones is an NMSU graduate with more than 20 years of experience as an early- and growth-stage software entrepreneur and operator. He has built and scaled multiple venture capital–backed technology companies, reinforcing the program’s focus on applied learning and real-world investment experience. 

The 2026 cohort includes undergraduate and graduate students from across the Borderplex region. Representing New Mexico State University are Grace Valentine Olagunju, Dustin Owen Garcia Reyes, Hamza Badrari, Samriddhi Ghimire, Rasana Maharjan, and Kamrul Hassan Suman. Representing the University of Texas at El Paso are Carlos Gael Hernandez Castro, Victoria Mascorro, and Diego Hernandez. 

Collectively, the fellows bring diverse academic and professional backgrounds in finance, engineering, management, biology, and related disciplines. Their career interests span venture capital, startup operations, technology commercialization, and regional economic development, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the innovation economy. 

Venture capital transactions require extensive analysis, research, and risk assessment. By learning how to evaluate early-stage companies and investment opportunities, FIRE Venture Fellows develop transferable skills that can be applied across a wide variety of business, finance, and innovation-related roles. 

“FIRE Venture Fellows reflects our commitment to preparing students for meaningful participation in the innovation economy,” said Carlos Murguia, director of the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship. “By providing hands-on exposure to venture capital and startup evaluation, we are equipping the next generation of leaders with the tools they need to contribute to high-growth companies, investment funds, and regional economic development efforts.” 

For more information about the FIRE Venture Fellows program, contact Murguia at cmurguia@nmsu.edu or visit https://arrowheadcenter.nmsu.edu/program/fire-fellows/.