Universities are increasingly viewed as agents that directly or indirectly contribute to innovation processes and, consequently, are accelerators of regional and national economic growth. The formation of students' entrepreneurial thinking and the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem within the university are added to the classical functions of universities: education and research. The result of such a function can be called the formation of student entrepreneurship and startups in universities. Due to the fact that this phenomenon is just emerging in the Russian Federation, there is an urgent need for its deep and systematic study. The article is devoted to the formation of student startups. The main processes of student startup development are identified. The main stakeholders of student entrepreneurship are analyzed; their roles and positions in the process of forming student startups are determined. The activities that form students' entrepreneurial competencies while studying at the university are examined. The results of the study may be of interest to a wide range of readers interested in the study and development of student entrepreneurship. FUNDING: The research was carried out within the framework of the research topic No. 621280 Methods of designing and developing innovative and entrepreneurial systems in the context of changing trends, challenges and business models of the ITMO University.