E-Team Grant & Training ProgramWebinar March 8, 2017

Agenda• VentureWell Overview• The E-Team Program Overview• Requirements & Application Process• Selection Criteria & Intellectual Property• Appendix

• Proposal Components• Top Reasons for Rejection

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INTRODUCTION TO VENTUREWELL

Cara Lampe, Marketing and Communications Associate

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Our MissionVentureWell fosters new ventures from an emerging generation of inventors and supports the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems critical to their success.

Innovators Faculty

Our Programs & InitiativesEarly Stage

Innovator Programs

I-Corps

E-Teams

Xcelerator

GIST

ASPIRE

BMEidea / DEBUT

Faculty Initiatives Programs

Faculty Grants

Pathways to Innovation

OPEN

Lean LaunchPad®

I&E Network Initiatives

National Innovation Network

BME-IDEA Meeting

TTA Advisory

GIST Network

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Our Funders and Partners

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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

o I-CorpsTM

o E-Teamso Xceleratoro GISTo ASPIREo BMEidea / DEBUT

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Faculty Initiative Programs We support faculty in developing programs that

cultivate & support student innovators and promote institutional change through:– Grants– Workshops & Training– Conferences

Faculty Grants Pathways to Innovation Open annual

conference Lean LaunchPad®

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I&E Network Development Programs We create and build networks to

strengthen the overall innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystem.

o National Innovation Network

o BME-IDEA Meetingo TTA Advisoryo GIST Network

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E-TEAM PROGRAM DETAILS

Christina Tamer, Program Officer

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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.

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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

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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

Why E-Teams?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6SLKtp1o3s

Agenda• VentureWell Overview• The E-Team Program• Requirements & Application Process

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E-Team RequirementsEach 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

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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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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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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

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HOW TO APPLYPatricia Boynton, Grants Management Officer

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#1 Mistake Applicants Make

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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

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Create an account & apply Go to venturewell.org/student-grants

Download & read detailed guidelines

Click to create account & apply

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Proposal Components & Requirements

5 page narrative Letters of support Team resumes Optional appendix (up to 5 additional

documents)

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Verifications of Support

Principal Investigator (PI) Administrative Contact (AC) Department Chair (DC)

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Proposal Selection Criteria1. Technology innovation and

feasibility2. Business model and commercial

potential3. Team composition, commitment,

expertise, and institutional support4. Positive social and/or environmental

impact 5. Workplan feasibility

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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

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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.

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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

More InformationSummer 2017 Cohort:

July 27-29 in Boston, MA areaApplication deadline: May 3, 2017

Winter 2017 Cohort:January 2018 in Boston, MA area

Application deadline: October 4, 2017E-Teams Program

Christina Tamer, Program Officerctamer@venturewell.org

VentureWell Grants OfficePatricia Boynton, Grants Management Officer

Membership and grant application questions: grants@venturewell.org

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Questions?

Appendix

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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

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.)

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.

Proposal NarrativeTechnology 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.)?

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?

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?

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?

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

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.

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.

PROOFREAD YOUR PROPOSAL!

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TOP REASONS FOR REJECTION

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

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)

Top Reasons for Rejection7. Not sustainable

8. Not scalable

9. No resulting E-Teams (for faculty grants)

10. No connection to existing resources on campus (for faculty grants)

CAYDIANCAYDIAN

Lymph/AxisLymph/Axis

COMPANIES FROM E-TEAMSVentureWell Funded

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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: FogKickerYear Founded: 2016Sector: MaterialsInvestment Status: Pre-seedProduct Status: SalesGeographic Market: USAE-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

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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: BioCellectionYear Founded: 2015Sector: Environment, Life ScienceInvestment Status: Raised $300kProduct Status: PrototypingGeographic Market: N. America, ChinaE-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

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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: KinnosYear Founded: 2015Sector: Healthcare TechnologyInvestment Status: Seeking first round investment capital; USAID fundedProduct Status: SalesGeographic Market: USAE-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