F1 visa holder received funding for a personal project, what are the implications later?

[ItalianStallionXX]

Hi everyone, I pitched a business idea to work on a project I’ve always wanted to start. The amount is about $50k (from a department within my university). I won’t be performing any work on the US soil and will use the money to work 3 months over the summer with a team of mine back in my country of origin. Since all of that money is going to be used for wages and expenses abroad, is this considered unauthorized employment?