Jennifer Mathieu

CCEI Helps 10 UConn-Affiliated Startups Grow, Prepare to Impact the World

Posted on by Claire Hall
Elijah Taitel (above) showing off his creation, the ProVelcocity Bat. Elijah's startup is one of ten selected to participate in the 2021 CCEI Summer Fellowship. (contributed photo)
Elijah Taitel (above) showing off his creation, the ProVelcocity Bat. Elijah’s startup is one of ten selected to participate in the 2021 CCEI Summer Fellowship. (contributed photo)

Senior Elijah Taitel loves baseball, and has spent the last few years creating the ProVelocity Bat, a unique training device designed to improve the swing of everyone from Little Leaguers to MLB players.

Sophomore Raina Jain’s passion revolves around the environment, and, more specifically honey bees. Her Queen Bee startup is preparing to sell an immunity- boosting beverage that contains honey and other all-natural ingredients.

Although their startups are vastly different, their business drive is well aligned. The two aspiring entrepreneurs began an eight-week entrepreneurship program this week, offered by the School of Business’ Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CCEI). They are joined by eight other business teams.Continue Reading

Santander Bank Supports Initiatives to Benefit Minority Students, Minority-Owned Businesses

Posted on by Claire Hall
Wilbur Cross at sunset.
(Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)

Santander Bank, N.A., through its Santander Universities program (“Santander”), has awarded a $100,000 grant to the UConn Foundation, to support initiatives that will benefit both minority business students and minority-owned small businesses.

The grant marks a new relationship between UConn and Santander, one of the country’s largest retail and commercial banks.Continue Reading

A Taste of Something New! Alumnus Creates Monthly ‘Subscription Box’ Filled with Distinctive Local Goodies

Posted on by Claire Hall
Curated CT provides products from a variety of local sources. Pictured above, is a sample from a previous month. (Contrbuted Photo)
Curated CT provides products from a variety of local sources. Pictured above, is a sample from a previous month. (Contributed Photo)

For more than a decade, alumnus Donald Pendagast ’20 MBA, had been thinking about ways to introduce people to local, small food businesses that they might not try otherwise. In October, his idea came to fruition with the creation of Curated CT, a subscription food box featuring local delicacies, including cheese, coffee, chocolate and sometimes beer. The company is already turning a profit and donates some of its profits to a different local charity every month.Continue Reading

UConn-Backed MedTech Accelerator Advances 10 Powerful Startups; ‘These Companies Will Absolutely Change Lives’

Posted on by Claire Hall

Armin Tahmasbi Rad, co-founder and CEO of Encapsulate
Armin Tahmasbi Rad, co-founder and CEO of Encapsulate (Nathan Oldham / UConn School of Business)

The excitement was palpable Monday night as 10 health care startups, including two that are UConn-grown, shared their medical technology innovations that promise unique solutions for some of medicine’s most vexing problems.Continue Reading

UConn-grown Startups, Programs Recognized at Entrepreneurship Awards

Posted on by Claire Hall

CCEI, Accelerate UConn, Jennifer Murphy, and Get Seeded were recognized with honorable mentions. (Contributed Photo)
CCEI, Accelerate UConn, Jennifer Murphy, and Get Seeded were recognized with honorable mentions. (Contributed Photo)

UConn collected numerous awards this week at the CT Entrepreneur Awards, which identify, recognize and celebrate Connecticut’s leading entrepreneurs, ventures and ecosystem supporters. Jennifer Murphy, program manager for the School of Business’ Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CCEI) received recognition as a community builder. In addition, the university was recognized for CCEI, as well as its Get Seeded and Accelerate UConn programs. Three UConn-grown startups, QRFertile, Encapsulate and VigorSential also were honored.
 
QRFertile, Encapsulate, and VigorSential, all UConn-grown startups, received awards. (Contributed Photo)
QRFertile, Encapsulate, and VigorSential, all UConn-grown startups, received awards. (Contributed Photo)

First ‘Get Seeded’ Event Awards $3k to New Ventures

Posted on by Claire Hall

Junior Daniel Ruskin, one of the winners of the first "Get Seeded" competition, organized by the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. (Nathan Oldham / UConn School of Business)
Junior Daniel Ruskin, one of the winners of the first “Get Seeded” competition, organized by the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. (Nathan Oldham / UConn School of Business)

Junior Daniel Ruskin has an idea for creating an in-home, hand-held voting machine that electors would receive when they register to vote.Continue Reading

CCEI Fellowship Program Features Top Entrepreneurs

Posted on by Claire Hall
Daniel Yasoshima '18 (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
Daniel Yasoshima ’18, a recent UConn graduate with a master of science in biomedical engineering, explains how the YouComm patient communication system would work. Yasoshima developed the innovation, soon to be tested at local hospitals, with Tom Cotton ’18 and engineering Professor Patrick Kumavor. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)

It is a great thing to be an entrepreneur; it is even better to be an entrepreneur who can make a difference in the world. Continue Reading

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Explored in Israel

Posted on by Janine Coppola
UConn students in front of Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd, the technology transfer company of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. (Steven Jenkins/UConn photo)
UConn students in front of Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd, the technology transfer company of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. (Steven Jenkins/UConn photo)

What better place to learn about business, entrepreneurship, and innovation than from one of the world’s leading countries for business creation? Continue Reading

Accelerate UConn Helps Students Commercialize New Technologies

Posted on by Melissa Ferrigno

The Daily Campus– University of Connecticut students can now apply to complete a seven-week long course which presents serious topics, such as science and business, in an entrepreneurial context with Accelerate UConn, a project whose mission is to support students who are commercializing new technologies and discoveries.