Embark is CU Boulder’s deep tech startup creator for matching entrepreneurs with breakthrough innovations. With various CU Boulder technologies ready to make a real-world impact, Embark seeks out motivated entrepreneurs in a competitive application process to join the Embark Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) cohort. The program then provides IP rights, salary support, grant funds, startup acceleration resources and investor introductions to selected applicants.
“In just eight months,” said Amy Dodenhoff, director of venture development at Venture Partners, at the event, “these entrepreneurs have taken technologies invented in the lab and launched these companies. That’s incredible.”
The entrepreneurial community and investors gathered at the showcase to see these startups pitch for the first time. The groundbreaking innovations included new dietary ingredients that could fight inflammation and weight gain with beneficial bacteria (Kioga, pitched by EIR Justin Whiteley) and a new “secret sauce” for creating bioplastics that beats the competition by fully biodegrading in natural environments like oceans and landfills (Ecovaleric, pitched by EIR Roberta Leão).
The event ended with the pitch by Co-EIRs Makenna Morck and Alec Santiago, who walked away with a surprise $1,000 audience choice prize. Their company is developing a breakthrough solution for drug discovery, a “shape-shifting cyclic peptide,” that would allow drug makers to create new treatments for various, even untreatable, diseases.
“Like the other teams today,” Morck said while accepting the prize, “I want to thank the Venture Partners team for this opportunity and all of the [EIRs]; it’s been an honor working with everyone.”
