MIT Energy Initiative awards eight seed fund grants for early-stage MIT energy research

Eight individuals and teams from MIT were recently awarded $150,000 grants through the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) Seed Fund Program to support promising novel energy research. The highly competitive annual program received a total of 82 proposals from 88 researchers representing 17 departments, labs, and centers at MIT. The applications, which came from a range […]

Princeton University logistics tech startup raises $4 million in venture funds

A Princeton University spinoff that says its artificial intelligence (AI) platform can help logistics providers operate their companies better has raised $4 million in venture funding and hired an alumnus of Uber Freight and FourKites to promote it. Princeton, New Jersey-based Optimal Dynamics said today that its “CORE.ai” product uses technology it calls “high-dimensional artificial intelligence” […]

CU Healthcare Innovation Fund closes with $50 million in committed capital

The CU Healthcare Innovation Fund announced today that it has secured its maximum targeted committed capital of $50 million. The fund is affiliated with and located on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus near Denver, Colorado. The limited partners include, among others, the University of Colorado, UCHealth, Children’s Hospital Colorado and CU Medicine, all […]

Tucson Tech: UA-invented device delivers COVID-19 results in minutes 

As soon as this fall, patients could be quickly and cheaply tested for the virus that causes COVID-19 with a device invented by University of Arizona optical scientists. The portable pathogen detection system, developed by Botanisol Analytics, uses a laser with sensors that can instantly analyze the chemical makeup of a virus test sample. Botanisol’s device, […]

Lowe’s Innovation Labs launch CONSTRUCT, its new startup accelerator program in India, and announces members of inaugural cohort 

Lowe’s Innovation Labs, the innovation hub of FORTUNE® 50 retailer Lowe’s Companies Inc., today launched the first Indian cohort of its signature, stage-agnostic startup accelerator program, CONSTRUCT by Lowe’s Innovation Labs. Seven startups from across India, representing a diverse range of interests including merchandising, AI-driven trend forecasting, automated content generation, talent acquisition, hyper real AI […]

Amazon makes corporate gift to U-M philanthropic venture fund 

Amazon is contributing $200,000 to the Accelerate Blue Fund, a University of Michigan philanthropic venture fund—representing the first corporate gift received by the fund that aims to help develop and commercialize promising U-M technologies. The donation brings Accelerate Blue nearly to the halfway point of its initial goal of $2 million. By the end of the […]

U Chicago Polsky Center New Venture Challenge awards record $1 million to student startups 

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has announced winners of the 24th annual Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge, which awarded a record $1 million to 11 student-run startups. This year’s program marks the largest investment pool in NVC history, topping last year’s investment of $850,000. The top prize was awarded to Pippin Title, a one-stop-shop […]

Seven UC Berkeley SkyDeck Startups Raise $32M in Six Months 

UC Berkeley SkyDeck, a Berkeley, Calif. – based startup accelerator of the University of California at Berkeley, announces that in the past six months–seven of its recent cohort startups raised seed rounds. Together the startups – coming from all sectors including AI and ML, robotics, fintech, medtech and more – raised approximately $32 million. These […]

MSU Foundation provides support for rising entreprenuers 

MSU Foundation currently hosts and manages Conquer Accelerator, a program dedicated to supporting up-and-coming entrepreneurs. Beginning in 2016, this project is a collaborative effort among MSU Foundation and its subsidiaries Spartan Innovations, Red Cedar Ventures and University Corporate Research Park. The program amplifies selected startups by providing $20,000 in funding, access to over 40 mentors, access to follow-up funding and other essential resources. Since 2015, […]

Six Ontario companies secure VentureLAB funding 

York Region has partnered with VentureLAB to award six local businesses a total of up to $75,000 to support the development of the region’s innovation network. The funding comes from York Region via the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund (EIF), which has committed $100,000 annually over the next four years to create jobs and help innovative startups and nonprofits grow […]