4. Our Mission
VentureWell fosters new ventures from an
emerging generation of inventors and supports the
innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems
critical to their success.
3
Innovators Faculty
7. Early Stage Innovator Programs
We work directly to support inventors in bringing
their ideas to market through:
– Workshops and training
– Coaching and mentoring
– Funding or awards
6
o I-CorpsTM
o E-Teams
o Xcelerator
o GIST
o ASPIRE
o BMEidea / DEBUT
8. Faculty Initiative Programs
We support faculty in developing programs that cultivate
& support student innovators and promote institutional
change through:
– Grants
– Workshops & Training
– Conferences
7
Faculty Grants
Pathways to Innovation
Open annual conference
Lean LaunchPad®
9. I&E Network Development Programs
We create and build networks to strengthen the
overall innovation & entrepreneurship
ecosystem.
8
o National Innovation
Network
o BME-IDEA Meeting
o TTA Advisory
o GIST Network
11. E-Teams by the Numbers
$8.9 million in grants to over 665 student
teams
More than $570 million in follow-on
funding to launch new businesses
Many are still in business today, operating
in over 50 countries and reaching millions
of people with ground-breaking
innovations.
10
13. What is an E-Team?
An E-Team – or, Entrepreneur Team - is a
multidisciplinary group of students and
faculty working together to bring a STEM-
based invention (product or service) to
market
12
15. E-Team Program Benefits
Intensive and highly interactive
workshops led by experts in student
ventures
Entrepreneurial and venture coaching
Grant funding of up to $25K in two stages
Opportunity to network and share ideas
with student entrepreneurs from around
the country
14
18. E-Team Requirements
Each E-Team must have:
At least 2 active students (undergraduate or
graduate)
– ideally with mix of technical and business expertise
– must be from a VentureWell Member institution
– students must be leading the development of the venture
A faculty advisor to act as Principal Investigator and
be responsible for the disbursement of grant funds
No maximum team size – most successful teams have 2-
6 student team members with additional faculty advisors
17
19. Eligible Inventions & Innovations
Science / Technology based
Scalable and commercially promising
Potential for significant positive impact on
society and/or the environment
18
20. Examples of Eligible Inventions
Biomedical devices, healthcare solutions
and/or technologies
Clean energy, sustainable materials and
other clean technologies
Technologies for low-resource settings (US or
international) that address poverty alleviation
and basic human needs such as affordable
energy, clean water / sanitation, health and
medical devices, agriculture, etc.
19
21. Examples of Ineligible Projects
Faculty-driven projects in which participating students
have no ownership of resulting intellectual property (IP)
Pure research projects without any defined commercial
applications or potential
Projects without any student involvement
Projects without a clear technology invention or
innovation
Projects that don’t have a path to commercialization
Projects without a clearly articulated social and/or
environmental impact
20
25. Before you apply…
Read the guidelines: https://venturewell.org/student-
grants/guidelines-stage-1/
Confirm your university is a VentureWell member:
https://venturewell.org/venturewell-member-list/
Speak to someone at your Office of Sponsored
Programs about your intention to apply
Know your university’s Intellectual Property policy
Make sure your IP is appropriately protected before you
submit
Create a VentureWell account and take a look at the
application
24
26. Create an account & apply:
venturewell.org/student-grants
25
Download & read
detailed guidelines
Click to create
account & apply
28. Verifications of Support
Principal Investigator (PI)
Administrative Contact (AC)
Department Chair (DC)
27
29. Proposal Selection Criteria
1. Technology innovation and feasibility
2. Business model and commercial potential
3. Team composition, commitment,
expertise, and institutional support
4. Positive social and/or environmental
impact
5. Workplan feasibility
28
30. What happens after you submit
your proposal?
Proposals are reviewed by panels of
VentureWell staff and external reviewers.
Status notifications are sent ~60 days after
submission deadline
Competitive program: 15-25% acceptance
rate
You may be invited to resubmit
29
31. If your team is accepted…
Your team is part of the E-Team Stage 1 cohort
and your university is awarded a $5,000 grant
on behalf of your team!
All E-Team grantees send two team members
to participate in the three-day workshop in the
Boston area.
The grant award is intended to cover travel to
attend the workshop. Any leftover funds can be
used to further develop your technology.
30
32. What happens at the workshop?
The Stage 1 workshop focuses on market
validation and discovery.
Workshop exercises help teams learn and be
able to:
– articulate the value of their innovation
– validate that the market they have identified is
indeed the right market for their innovation
– articulate their competitive position within that
market(s)
Network with ~15 other teams and 5-6
experienced instructors/mentors
31
33. Remember--before you apply…
Check out the guidelines: https://venturewell.org/student-
grants/guidelines-stage-1/
Confirm your university is a VentureWell member:
https://venturewell.org/venturewell-member-list/
Speak to someone at your Office of Sponsored Programs about your
intention to apply
Know your university’s Intellectual Property policy
Make sure your IP is appropriately protected before you submit
Create a VentureWell account and take a look at the application
Identify your PI, Administrative Contact and Department Chair
Review the proposal timeline and proposal requirements
Mark your calendar with deadline and the workshop dates!
32
34. More Information
Spring 2017 Cohort:
April 6-8 in Boston, MA area
Application deadline: January 25, 2017
Summer 2017 Cohort:
July 27-29 in Boston, MA area
Application deadline: May 3, 2017
E-Teams Program
Christina Tamer, Program Officer
ctamer@venturewell.org
VentureWell Grants Office
Patricia Boynton, Grants Management Officer
Membership and grant application questions: grants@venturewell.org
Or 413-587-2172 x115
37. VentureWell Intellectual Property
Policy
Ownership of intellectual property resulting
from E-Team work should belong to the
students on the team
VentureWell takes no financial or ownership
interest in the projects funded by its E-Team
grants
Applicants advised to protect their intellectual
property before submitting a proposal
Students should understand their university’s
IP policies
36
38. Proposal Components
Required
– Title page
– Proposal narrative (no more than 5 pages)
– Letter(s) of support (at least 1, no more than 3)
– Team member resumes
Optional
– Additional appendices
– Weblinks (websites, video links, articles, etc.)
37
39. Who is your audience?
1. VentureWell Program Officer
2. VentureWell Grants Manager
3. Panel of 4-5 external reviewers made up
of individuals from academia, industry,
nonprofits & NGOs, and venture capital
with experience in the technology areas
and in the commercialization of early
stage innovations.
40. Proposal Narrative
Technology and value proposition (1-2 pages)
• What is your invention or technology innovation?
• Is it technically feasible? Have you demonstrated proof of the key
principle(s)?
• Is your technology proprietary &protectable?
• Have you done a prior art search, filed an invention disclosure, filed a provisional patent? Who
are the inventors and who owns the patent?
• Have you developed a physical prototype or proof of concept?
• If yes, document the development of your prototype with drawings, digital documentation, or
data demonstrating its effectiveness.
• If not, describe your plans for proof of concept
• What problem are you solving for what customers? In what way is it better
than other solutions on the market?
• What large-scale impact would successful adoption of your innovation create
(e.g., lives saved, amount of C02 reduction, money saved. etc.)?
41. Proposal Narrative (cont’d)
Business model and market (1-2 pages)
• Describe the market and customers that you intend to reach, and explain
how you will engage them.
• Who are your target customers, and have you talked to any?
• How does what you are proposing compare with the competition?
• What is your commercialization plan?
• How will you approach the manufacturing, marketing, sales, distribution, and support of your
product or service?
• How do you intend to make this economically sustainable?
• Describe the costs to produce and support your product and your expected sales price
• How do you intend to make this environmentally sustainable? – if applicable
• What is the structure you envision for your venture?
42. Proposal Narrative (cont’d)
Team (half page)
• Who are the key team members and what roles will they play (1-2
• sentence on each)?
• Who will lead the technical and business model development?
• Do you have outside mentors, advisors, and/or partners?
• If your team is working on a technology for low-resource settings in the US or
abroad:
• Identify any partners (individuals, community leaders, nonprofits or
NGOs, etc.) outside of your institution who will provide connections and
access to the field and end-users
• Identify any partners who can help the team commercialize any resulting
technologies
• Explain how the team will address possible language, cultural, and social
barriers.
• Has the team traveled to the community in which you propose to work?
43. Proposal Narrative (cont’d)
Work plan and outcomes (1 page)
• Describe your plan for moving forward (from today to initial sales)
• In a table format, list the 10 to 15 high-level steps with a timeline
that will get you from today to readiness for initial sales
• What does success look like and how will you measure it?
44. Optional: Appendices and
Weblinks
• Up to 5 additional appendices may be included
• May include but not limited to:
• Images demonstrating design and/or technical feasibility
• drawings, photographs, etc.
• A summary of prior art
• Any data collected as part of testing your technology
• Any other relevant supporting materials
• Weblinks
• Links to online articles, videos and/or other relevant online data
• Videos not required, but can help your proposal stand out or
demonstrate how your technology works
Quality > Quantity
45. Letters of support
Letters of support demonstrate to reviewers that
there is institutional support for your project
and/or to verify partnerships discussed in your
narrative.
At least one letter is required as part of your
proposal. You may include up to three total.
46. Do you have a polished resume?
Resumes should be no more than three
pages each, and are only required for key
team members, with a maximum of four
resumes included.
50. 1. No entrepreneurship (too research-focused,
no path to commercialization/project(s) begin
and end in the classroom)
2. No tech innovation (not convinced it’s new)
3. Too faculty-driven (too little student
involvement or ownership opportunity)
Top Reasons for Rejection
51. Top Reasons for Rejection
4. No clearly defined social impact
5. Lack of expertise on the team/no relevant
advisors and/or partners
6. Unclear proposal (“ask” isn’t compelling, no
budget justification, too much jargon, sloppy)
52. Top Reasons for Rejection
7. Not sustainable
7. Not scalable
8. No resulting E-Teams (for faculty grants)
9. No connection to existing resources on
campus (for faculty grants)
54. 53
FogKicker is a natural, green anti-fog solution. It
prevents the formation of fog on any surface,
including vehicle windshields, eyewear, mirrors,
windows, and display screens. Made from
Nanocellulose, a wood derived natural
nanomaterial, FogKicker is biodegradable,
biocompatible, and non-toxic.
VentureWell provided Stage 1 and 2 E-Team
training and grants to FogKicker totaling $25,000.
Company: FogKicker
Year Founded: 2016
Sector: Materials
Investment Status: Pre-seed
Product Status: Sales
Geographic Market: USA
E-Team Participation: E1, E2
Yinyong Li,
Co-Founder and CTO
YinYong Li is a PhD candidate at the
Department of Polymer Science and
Engineering at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst.
Li has said that FogKicker creates a film
on a surface that prevents
condensation from beading and
scattering light. Instead, it distributes
light evenly and the user is able to see
more clearly. According to Li, future
markets for the product include 254
million vehicle windshields, 181 million
pairs of glasses and 115 million
household mirrors.
InventorInventionCompany Snapshot
55. 54
BioCellection is developing bacteria that can
break down ocean-bound plastic waste. Their
technology then upcycles unrecyclable waste into
valuable products for textiles.
They have a prototype for breaking down
polystyrene into CO2 and water, and see their
technology being used in two ways—first, for
landfill and beach cleanups, and, second, to
create a secondary product to be used in textile
manufacturing.
VentureWell provided Stage 1 and Stage 2 E-Team
training and grants to BioCellection totaling
$25,000.
Company: BioCellection
Year Founded: 2015
Sector: Environment, Life Science
Investment Status: Raised $300k
Product Status: Prototyping
Geographic Market: N. America,
China
E-Team Participation: E1, E2
Miranda Wang, CEO, and
Jeanny Yao, CTO - Co-Founders
Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao first
worked on the problem of plastic waste
in high school. They have since filed two
patents, founded a company, and raised
about $400,000 from a variety of
sources. They recently graduated from
the University of Pennsylvania and the
University of Toronto respectively.
InventorsInventionCompany Snapshot
56. 55
Kinnos prevents the transmission of
infectious diseases by eliminating human
error and empowering healthcare workers
and patients to protect themselves. Their
first product, Highlight, is a patent-
pending powdered additive for
disinfectants that greatly enhances
decontamination. By targeting both
surface decontamination during epidemics
and daily disinfection in hospitals,
laboratories, and government agencies,
Highlight can fundamentally improve the
practice of decontamination and prevent
the transmission of infectious diseases.
VentureWell provided Stage 1, 2 and 3 E-
Team training and grants to Kinnos
totaling $25,000.
Company: Kinnos
Year Founded: 2015
Sector: Healthcare Technology
Investment Status: Seeking
first round investment capital;
USAID funded
Product Status: Sales
Geographic Market: USA
E-Team Participation: E1, E2,
E3-ASPIRE
Jason Kang, Katherine Jin, Kevin
Tyan, Co-Founders
This trio is interested in improving
health care in low-resource
settings by addressing gaps. Their
goal with Kinnos is to improve
disinfection to protect healthcare
workers. They were inspired by
Columbia’s Ebola Design
Challenge in 2014, realizing there
was an opportunity to solve a
pressing need—health care
workers were being infected by
Ebola due to an ineffective
decontamination process.
InventorsInventionCompany Snapshot
Editor's Notes
VW programs
VentureWell is a 45 person, 20 year old organization located in Western Massachusetts, about 90 miles west of Boston in Hadley Massachusetts, just down the road from the flagship campus of UMass.
VentureWell’s E-Team Program provides early-stage funding and training to help students move their technology innovations out of the classroom or the lab and into the marketplace.
The program consists of 3 “stages,” and is a combination of grant funding, training, and coaching.
Stage 3 culminates in an intensive training focused on venture development and investibility. VentureWell invests in a small percentage of teams coming out of this last stage.
There are 3 application opportunities each academic year, and our next deadline is coming up on Jan 27 and May 4
They don’t allow enough time to do everything that needs to be done in preparation. There are several steps that are beyond your control so you need to plan for other people’s schedules. We are about 6 weeks away from the January 25 deadline, if you’re serious, you should start now
Check out the proposal roadmap on the guidelines jump page for a good timeline checklist for you to use. We’ll talk about a few items from this list
Read the guidelines to make sure you’re a fit for the program, know eligibility requirements and review the required components well in advance.
Confirm that your university’s membership is up to date. If not, contact us and we can tell you who the primary contact for your university is
Contact your office of sponsored programs about your intention to apply and to find out what your university’s process is. Often your OSP will need to review and sign off on your proposal before you submit it and that can take a week or two
E-Team program funding is in the form of a grant – we take no ownership interest in your IP BUT your university most likely does so if you don’t know what it is find out your university’s policy. In your proposal narrative you’ll need to discuss the status of your IP.
Make sure your IP is appropriately protected before you submit
Create a VentureWell account and check out the application well in advance of the deadline
Your proposal is comprised of a 5 page narrative, letters of support, and team resumes. You may also submit up to 5 additional documents as an appendix. Everything you’ll need to include in your narrative is listed in the guidelines, but think about it like you’re telling a story that should include:
What’s the problem you’re trying to solve?
Why is your solution better than what’s already out there?
How do you know?
and
Why you?
Remember, you’re trying to convince reviewers why VentureWell should bet on you.
You’ll also need to get Verifications of Support from these folks, in order to show that your university knows what you’re working on and supports you, because the funding is awarded to the university, not to your team or PI. This is done electronically via the application system, and basically they’re just saying “yes, I support this project.”
The PI is also responsible for the reporting requirements (making sure the funds are spent in an appropriate way) AND they should also help you navigate your university’s bureaucracy. If you’re working on a technology for a class you probably already have a PI.
The administrative contact is someone from your Office of Sponsored Programs or Sponsored Research who has the fiscal authority to sign the award letter and bind the university to the terms of the grant. When you contact your OSP to let them know you’re planning to apply, you should find out who your AC should be.
The Department Chair manages the day to day of your department. If you don’t know who your Department Chair is, ask your PI or you can often find this on your department’s webpage.
Your proposal will be reviewed against these criteria.
Is your workplan realistic?
Internal reviewers include faculty, serial entrepreneurs, industry experts, angel investors, we even have a couple former E-Team members.
We’ll notify you of your status within 60 days. We notify all applicants and if you’re interested will provide you with reviewer feedback if you’re not funded
Applicants invited by reviewers to resubmit should contact VentureWell to discuss the reviewer feedback in detail and make sure they understand the questions and concerns raised. Resubmitted proposals must specify how previous concerns have been addressed.
Occasionally, a team may be invited to resubmit their proposal for reconsideration in a future cohort, after certain concerns or questions are addressed.
Many E-Teams try to get the most bang for their buck by being frugal with their travel expenses – stay with a friend or at the hostel instead of a hotel; drive if you can, instead of flying; take the T, not taxis, eat cheap.
So remember, before you apply and well in advance of the deadline:
Read the guidelines, paying special attention to fit and eligibility requirements
Make sure your university’s membership is up to date. Call us if you’re not sure where to check
Inform your office of sponsored programs about your intention to apply and find out what your university’s internal requirements are
Know and understand your university’s IP policy and make sure your IP is appropriately protected before you submit
Create a VentureWell account and review the application
ID your PI, AC and Dc
Thoroughly review the proposal requirements
Note the important dates on your calendar!
And here they are
More information about everything we talked about can be found in the appendix portion of this presentation, we will send you the link to the presentation
What questions do you have?
Focus on 1 and 2 as the students may have focused on this already.
(30) Intro BMC / Cust Development (A)
(60) Activity: Pitch Business Thesis
(60) Intro BMC / Cust Development (B)
(30) Launchpad Central Training
(90) Value Props / Customer Segments (60) Customer Discovery Best Practices (30) Activity: Market Sizing
Note: your customers may be different from the end users of your product/service
Highlight that this is not a garbage can. Include necessary and key information that will help reviewers better understand your proposal.
Letters of support demonstrate to reviewers that there is institutional support for your project and/or to verify partnerships discussed in your narrative. At least one letter is required as part of your proposal. You may include up to three total. More weight will be given to letters of support from potential customers, partners, industry experts, and mentors that verify the key elements of your proposal over general letters of support from friends, family, or supportive faculty (although these may also be appropriate and of value).
We do not need resumes for the Administrative Contact or other non-key team members/collaborators.
Have someone (or ideally two people) review your proposal before submitting it
Deal with rejection. If rejected go get a beer, let it cool off and then contact the program officer for feedback / comment from reviewers
And finally, because its sometimes easier to absorb what NOT to do, I thought I’d share a list of the top 10 reasons that proposals DON’T get funded.
we receive a lot of proposals that describe a really great course or program that may expose students to some great experiences, but just end with the course/a final project. OR a student team will apply for the E-Team project but what they describe is really a class project and there’s no intention to bring the product or service to market.
Sometime we get proposals that have little or no tech innovation included – there may be an element of eship…but no new technology.
Sometimes there’s too little student involvement in a proposal – in the case of a ET grant, that might be that students are just assisting w/ research, etc. and won’t have any opportunity to play a significant role in a resulting venture or have any ownership over any resulting IP.
4) Sometimes the technologies proposed don’t demonstrate a significant enough social impact
5) Team not strong
6) Unclear – isn’t compelling, no budget justification, etc.
7) Sometimes reviewers aren’t convinced that a course or program will be sustained beyond the proposed grant period/not enough institutional support
Over the 14 years of the program these are the companies with “real” funding – mostly venture capital. A few have been acquired already. Several have FDA approved devices; quite a few more are approved in Europe.