VentureWell is a nonprofit that supports early-stage science and technology innovators through programs, funding, and networking opportunities. The E-Team program provides grants up to $25,000 to multidisciplinary student teams working to commercialize STEM-based inventions with social or environmental impacts. To apply, teams must submit a proposal outlining their technology, business model, team, and work plan. Successful proposals demonstrate technical and market feasibility, commercial potential, team expertise, and measurable social impacts. VentureWell then provides intensive workshops and coaching to help teams validate their ideas and advance their ventures.
2. Agenda
• Who?
• About VentureWell
• Why?
• Technology for Impact
• What?
• About the E-Team Program
• How?
• Requirements & Application Process
• Selection Criteria
• Appendix
• Proposal Components
• Top Reasons for Rejection
3. Who is VentureWell?
VentureWell supports early-stage, socially beneficial
science and technology innovators, their ventures,
and the innovation and entrepreneurship
ecosystems that are critical to their success.
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6. Faculty Initiative Programs
We support faculty in developing programs that
cultivate & support student innovators and
promote institutional change through:
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Faculty Grants
Pathways to
Innovation
Open annual
conference
Lean LaunchPad®
7. What we offer to
Early Stage STEM Innovators
Direct work to support inventors in bringing
their ideas to market through:
– Workshops and training
– Coaching and mentoring
– Funding or awards
8. Agenda
• Who?
• About VentureWell
• Why?
• Technology for Impact
• What?
• About the E-Team Program
• How?
• Requirements & Application Process
• Selection Criteria
• Appendix
• Proposal Components
• Top Reasons for Rejection
12. 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 to market
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13.
14. E-Team Program Benefits
Intensive and highly interactive
workshops led by experts in student
STEM venture development
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
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15. What is the result?
$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.
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16. Agenda
• Who?
• About VentureWell
• Why?
• Technology for Impact
• What?
• About the E-Team Program
• How?
• Requirements & Application Process
• Selection Criteria
• Appendix
• Proposal Components
• Top Reasons for Rejection
18. E-Team Requirements
Each E-Team must have:
At least 2 active students (undergraduate or
graduate)
– prefer a 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/industry advisors
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19. Eligible Inventions & Innovations
Science / Technology based
Scalable and commercially promising
Potential for significant positive
impact on society and/or the
environment
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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.
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21. Examples of Ineligible Projects
Faculty-driven projects in which participating students
have no ownership of resulting company or decision-
making power
Projects without a clearly articulated social and/or
environmental impact
Pure research projects without any defined
commercial applications or potential
Projects without any student involvement
Projects without a clear technology invention or
innovation
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22. Before applying…
Confirm your university is a
VentureWell member; funding is
awarded to the university
Create a VentureWell account online to
start your application OR have your
university’s Office of Sponsored or
Grants Programs do so on your team’s
behalf
Know your university’s and
VentureWell’s Intellectual Property
policies
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24. Create an Account and Apply
Go to venturewell.org/student-grants
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Download & read
detailed guidelines
Click to create
account & apply
25. 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
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26. What happens after you submit
your proposal?
Proposals are reviewed by panels of
VentureWell staff and external reviewers.
Award notifications are sent ~60 days
after submission deadline
Occasionally, a team may be invited to
resubmit their proposal for reconsideration
in a future cohort, after certain concerns
or questions are addressed.
Competitive program: 15-25% acceptance
rate
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27. If your team is accepted…
Your team is part of the E-Team Stage 1
cohort and is awarded a $5,000 grant!
All E-Team grantees are required to send
two participants to the three-day workshop
in the Boston area.
The grant award is intended to cover:
– travel to attend the workshop
– minor expenses associated with furthering
your innovation.
Note: Grant funds will be awarded to the
team’s college or university and distributed
by the PI to the team
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28. What happens at the workshop?
The Stage 1 workshop focuses on
market validation and discovery.
Workshop exercises help teams learn
and be able to:
– Assess the value of their innovation
– Validate that the market they have
identified is indeed the right market for
their innovation
– Examine their competitive position within
that market(s)
Network with innovators and mentors
from a national community
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29. More Information
Next Cohort:
January 11-13, 2018
Applications Due: October 4, 2017
E-Teams Program
Janine Elliott, Program Officer
jelliott@venturewell.org
VentureWell Grants Office
Brenna Breeding, Grants Administrator
Membership and grant application questions: grants@venturewell.org
31. 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
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32. Proposal Components
• Required
• Title page
• Proposal narrative (no more than 5 pages)
• Letter(s) of support (minimum of 1, maximum of 3)
• Team member resumes
• Optional
• Additional appendices
• Weblinks (websites, video links, articles, etc.)
33. 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.
34. 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.)?
35. 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?
36. 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?
37. 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?
38. Optional: Appendices and
Weblinks
• Up to 3 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
39. 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.
40. 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.
44. 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
45. 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)
46. Top Reasons for Rejection
7. Not sustainable beyond the grant
7. Not scalable, one-off
8. No resulting E-Teams (for faculty grants)
9. No connection to existing resources on
campus (for faculty grants)
48. 47
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
49. 48
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
50. 49
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