Mitchell Kokko is an associate on the Pitroad Fund at the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame. He is responsible for managing relationships with industry and partner funds for the University of Notre Dame's Pitroad Fund. Kokko is an avid proponent for student entrepreneurship, having launched his first company when only 16 years old. Currently, Kokko runs a startup called Xstudia.

Kokko came to the IDEA Center from Ecwid, the leading e-commerce solutions for small businesses worldwide, where he served as a project lead and business development manager over a two-year span with the company. While at Ecwid, Kokko oversaw the successful launch of Ecwid Payments in the United States and the United Kingdom, with over $5 million in total merchant payments moved onto the new platform in the first eight months after launch.

In addition to his managerial roles at the IDEA Center, Kokko has served as an entrepreneurial lead and analyst for one of the latest immunotherapy treatments in development by the University that will be providing an improved epitope prediction platform to companies developing vaccines for cancer treatment. This technology, developed by Brian Baker, PhD. and Timothy Riley, PhD., will allow companies creating vaccines to create personalized treatments for each patient.

Kokko graduated with honors in entrepreneurship from the Culver Academies in 2015, serving as captain and regimental adjutant, and the recipient of the Culver Meritorious Achievement Medal, the McKinney Saber, and a two-time captain of the fencing team. He is currently studying in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame pursuing a B.A. in Management Consulting and will graduate in May of 2019, at which time he will be joining the team at the IDEA Center full time.