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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Research Park

    EnterpriseWorks

    EnterpriseWorks Investments News Research Park

    Illinois Ventures Launches Illini Angels Investment Network

    WCIA interviewed Brandon Yates, CEO of EnterpriseWorks startup DeepWalk, said having such a focused source of early-stage capital available for entrepreneurs will be a game-changer. Watch his interview here.  Read the full Illini Angels press release HERE.  Illinois Ventures – the U of I System’s venture capital arm and a tenant at EnterpriseWorks – and a group of leading alumni from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced the formation of Illini Angels on Feb. 27. It will support early-stage companies that have founders or leadership who are connected to the U of I System family – faculty, alumni, or students from any of the three universities, as well as companies that license university technology. That support will include seed funding, advice, and mentorship. The angel network plans to focus on innovative companies that leverage the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s expertise in fields like engineering, computer science, healthcare, ag tech, and energy. “There’s been such pent-up demand for this idea. Illinois entrepreneurs, faculty, and staff are regularly approached by alumni who would like to invest in or engage with our university startups. They know that great opportunities are born there every day,” said Nancy Sullivan, CEO and managing director of Illinois Ventures.

    Illinois Ventures Launches Illini Angels Investment Network Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Features News Research Park

    Serial Entrepreneur Paul Miller Joins EnterpriseWorks Expert EIR Team

    Paul Miller, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of EnterpriseWorks graduate Agrible, has joined the EnterpriseWorks Entrepreneur-in-Residence program. Miller is now available to meet with technology entrepreneurs and startup ventures. A University of Illinois alumnus, Paul was part of the founding team of one of Research Park’s biggest agtech success stories – Agrible, a precision analytics company. Shortly after founding the company, the team moved into EnterpriseWorks and later grew into bigger space in another Research Park building. Post-acquisition, Paul decided to get back in the game by co-founding Flats and Spikes, which allows runners, coaches, and experts to work together using science and technology. The Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Program allows entrepreneurs to seek help from experienced and successful members from the EIR over a variety of topics including business consulting, strategy assistance, marketing and communication help, investor preparedness. This program also hosts a series of events featuring the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. Miller’s first workshop, “Living and Breathing an Entrepreneurial Life,” will be on March 23. BIO: Paul S. Miller, PhD, has been creating science-based, intelligent systems since 2005. In 2014, he founded Agrible, Inc building the world’s first predictive analytics system that put critical knowledge into the hands of growers to manage their operations. With Agrible, he and his team launched the largest agriculture sustainability platform enabled by intelligent systems, which has characterized millions of acres of farmland across the US. Agrible was acquired in 2018 by Nutrien Ag Solutions for $63M and was a top 5 global Ag Tech acquisition at the time. Paul co-founded Flats or Spikes in 2020, where he is building a business using conversational, generative intelligent systems fine-tuned with domain experts to create quality of life for everyone. Paul has a background in ML/AI and data science including publications and patents. Has led the development of ag tech platforms, mobile apps, data science, ML/AI systems, infrastructure, and ETL pipelines for science-based products. He also has led design and product development teams to build products using agile, user-focused methodologies. Paul also has a personal love of DIY music and playing drums and guitar.

    Serial Entrepreneur Paul Miller Joins EnterpriseWorks Expert EIR Team Read Post »

    Community EnterpriseWorks News Research Park

    EnterpriseWorks Startup DeepWalk Pilots Technology That Keeps Campus Sidewalks ADA Compliant

    A EnterpriseWorks startup is changing the way that city workers and civil engineers inspect sidewalks for safety. DeepWalk has built a scanning app that makes it easier and more inexpensive to inspect sidewalks on university campuses and municipalities. The app is innovative in that users are trained how to use the program on the device. DeepWalk comes with a wide variety of unique features, including community mapping data, 3D site visit models, self-evalutation templates and automatically generated work orders. All of these tools can help a city to generate their estimated cost for sidewalk repairs in a matter of minutes. Co-founders Brandon Yates and Anshul Shah came up with the app idea in a first-year engineering course at UIUC. Since then, they have participated in the COZAD New Venture Challenge and the iVenture Accelerator program that is sponsored by Gies College of Business. The iVenture Accelerator is a university program that provides a variety of resources and opportunities for student-led entrepreneurial endeavors. “iVenture Accelerator is a safe and helpful place to make a lot of mistakes quickly. It taught us to create a fundraising pitch before we would have on our own,” said Yates.  With the iVenture program, DeepWalk was able to formulate a simple and responsive business model that could appeal to a greater pool of clients. Since DeepWalk’s enrollment in the iVenture program, it has managed to complete a pilot program in Danville, Illinois, and it has confirmed contracts with the University of Maryland, and Western Michigan University. By May 2023, the startup will be used in 15 different cities. As cities continue to grow and the Baby Boomer generation becomes older, there is a greater need for the inspection of sidewalk safety. There is also a greater need for technology that can analyze whether walkways are compliant with American Disability Act (ADA) guidelines. DeepWalk is currently located in the EnterpriseWorks building, where it is working on expanding past its current client base. In the future, the company envisions becoming an automatic measurement company that utilizes drones to scan pathways. Learn more about DeepWalk here.

    EnterpriseWorks Startup DeepWalk Pilots Technology That Keeps Campus Sidewalks ADA Compliant Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Vote Today: HabiTerre Selected as Finalist for THRIVE | Shell Climate-Smart Agriculture Challenge

    MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT! EnterpriseWorks startup HabiTerre needs your support. The THRIVE | Shell Climate-Smart Agriculture Challenge has selected HabiTerre as a finalist. As part of this esteemed competition, there is a People’s Choice Award in addition to the overall prize. Please take a moment to join HabiTerre’s supporters and vote online. Voting is being captured through AirTable – voters will be asked for name and affiliation. HabiTerre will present to a judging panel in the coming weeks for the overall prize, which rewards world-leading innovation in climate-smart agriculture. Find the full press release HERE. The finalists include 11 startup and scale-up innovators who are driving the global transformation to climate-smart agricultural practices. More specifically, the Challenge will recognize innovations that help farmers by finding: solutions that promote carbon sequestration and avoid emissions while improving soil health; solutions to improve farm connectivity to access carbon markets and carbon financing; and solutions that measure and quantify soil carbon, soil health, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. HabiTerre CEO Nick Reinke will be a featured panelist at the upcoming AgTech Innovation Summit – register today. Congrats to all of the HabiTerre team – especially Nick and founder Kaiyu Guan!

    Vote Today: HabiTerre Selected as Finalist for THRIVE | Shell Climate-Smart Agriculture Challenge Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Research Park

    Immigration Specialist Matt Meltzer Joins EnterpriseWorks EIR Team

    Matt Meltzer, an immigration attorney and partner in Chicago-based Meltzer Hellrung, has joined the EnterpriseWorks Entrepreneur-in-Residence program. Meltzer is now available to meet with technology entrepreneurs and startup ventures. “As an entrepreneur, I deeply enjoy working with fellow entrepreneurs. The US immigration pathways for entrepreneurs are never easy; but with solid planning and creativity, we can work towards making a path possible,” Meltzer said. Meltzer is no stranger to the EnterpriseWorks and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign entrepreneurship community. He has led workshops and delivered lectures on topics related to employment authorization and immigration pathways for entrepreneurs. View a previous webinar below. The EIR allows entrepreneurs to seek help from experienced and successful members from the EIR over a variety of topics including business consulting, strategy assistance, marketing and communication help, investor preparedness. This program also hosts a series of events featuring the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. To learn more about the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program or request to meet with Meltzer, click here. BIOGRAPHY: Matt co-founded Meltzer Hellrung in 2014 with his business partner, Matthew Hellrung. Their vision was to combine exceptional, strategic, and programmatic legal guidance with best-in-class technology to provide a service that makes immigration management easier for companies and more transparent, intuitive, and reassuring for foreign national employees. In addition, Matt continues to strive to build a workplace that treats employees with dignity and invests in their long-term success. Matt’s clients range from entrepreneurs to small and growth-phase companies to multinational corporations. In his practice, he has built up a specialty working with emerging companies, including entrepreneurs, foreign companies entering the US market, and high-growth venture backed companies. Matt works closely with clients to help them assess immediate legal needs and build strategies that scale with continued growth. Matt advises companies regarding employee hiring and I-9 compliance, immigration policy, reorganizations and mergers, global immigration and expansion, and government inspections. View his complete bio here.

    Immigration Specialist Matt Meltzer Joins EnterpriseWorks EIR Team Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Media Mentions News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Chicagoland Billboard Campaign Features EnterpriseWorks Startups

    A marketing campaign presented by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hitting billboards across Chicagoland features several startups at EnterpriseWorks and Research Park. Those include: Network Perception: Now located in Chicago, Network Perception incubated at EnterpriseWorks. It has multiple UIUC faculty co-founders and its CEO is a former staff member. Prenonis: Now located in Chicago, Prenonis also incubated at EnterpriseWorks and has faculty co-founders. Tiesta Tea: This Chicago success story also got its start at EnterpriseWorks, where it was co-founded by one student from UIUC and one student from University of Illinois-Chicago. Ocient: in its early stages, Chicago-based Ocient opened an office at EnterpriseWorks.

    Chicagoland Billboard Campaign Features EnterpriseWorks Startups Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    HabiTerre Awarded $75,000 Arch Grants Prize

    EnterpriseWorks startup HabiTerre has won $75,000 in the Arch Grants startup competition. HabiTerre monitors, measures, and analyzes global and local resource levels and provide actionable insights for optimal management of land and water. It was founded at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Arch Grants is a St. Louis nonprofit that annually awards $75,000 equity-free grants to startups. It awarded 23 companies in 2022.  Co-founder Dr. Kaiyu Guan, CEO Nick Reinke, Senior Modeling Scientist Bin Ping and Chief Engineer Yizhi Huang represented HabiTerre at the Arch Grants gala on Friday, Nov. 18. As part of the Arch Grants award, each company will commit to operating their business from St. Louis for at least one year; HabiTerre plans to continue its presence at EnterpirseWorks.

    HabiTerre Awarded $75,000 Arch Grants Prize Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Identomat Named Top Startup at GITI 2022

    EnterpriseWorks cybersecurity startup Identomat was recognized as the top IT startup at the Georgian IT Innovations Conference earlier this month. Identomat has built an AI-powered Know Your Customer and identity verification for traditional & Blockchain spaces. GITI is an annual event held in Tlibisi, Georgia which focuses on digital transformation, GovTech, FinTech, Information, and Cybersecurity. It has become a flagship event  in the Central and East Europe, Baltic States, Caucasus, and Middle Asia region. More than 500 participants from over 20 countries attend. Identomat was founded in Georgia. Its US headquarters is located in Champaign at the EnterpriseWorks incubator. Find out more information about Identomat here.

    Identomat Named Top Startup at GITI 2022 Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Investments News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    SimBioSys Awarded $2M Phase II NCI SBIR Contract

    SimBioSys®, the precision medicine company behind TumorScope®, the 4D tumor modeling platform for treatment planning, announced today it has been awarded a $2M Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. SimBioSys is a startup based at EnterpriseWorks, the incubator at the University of Illinois Research Park in Champaign. Heterogeneity among cancers and differences within individual tumors continue to challenge the efforts to develop effective therapies and design clinical trials. Therefore, SimBioSys’ goal with PhenoScope™ is to provide a cutting-edge extension of their TumorScope platform to capture tumor heterogeneity and develop the next generation of multi-modal biomarkers to support cancer research in academia and biopharma. “It’s an exciting time in cancer research due to the explosion of cancer phenotyping datasets, yet the computational complexity of analyzing and connecting such data across scales is hindering progress,” said Dr. Joseph Peterson, CTO of SimBioSys. “PhenoScope builds on our strong 4D tumor modeling fundamentals to further support our collaborators and researchers at earlier stages of the cancer care industry.” PhenoScope integrates data from multiple biological scales including genomic, cellular/pathway, microscopic tissue environment, and organ scales with clinical outcomes data. This multi-scale interconnection will enable study of diverse biological characteristics that affect tumor phenotype, from mutations and response to drugs and spatial heterogeneity. The technology combines state-of-the-art machine learning, dimensionality reduction techniques, novel spatio-temporal simulation algorithms, and supports numerous public data repositories. Platform users will have new means of assessing factors contributing to a cancer’s phenotypical behavior, thereby allowing elucidation of new pharmacodynamic, prognostic, predictive, and surrogate biomarkers. “It’s fascinating how PhenoScope connects complex cancer datasets and allows the visualization of such data in a 4D manner,” said Tricia Carrigan, SVP of precision medicine at SimBioSys. “We now have a tool that enables us to determine drug dosing and biomarker relationships more precisely before ever dosing a patient, which will play an important role in drug development.” The company successfully completed a Phase I contract in 2021 centered around the development of the prototype cloud- and web-based version of PhenoScope. During the Phase II contract, SimBioSys will expand access to PhenoScope and novel datasets to a broader user base.

    SimBioSys Awarded $2M Phase II NCI SBIR Contract Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Hypercell Technologies Selected as Standout Startup for FoodBytes! Program

    Hypercell Technologies, an EnterpriseWorks startup developing technologies to control infectious disease in production animals that can put human health at risk, was selected as one of the 45  outstanding startups in the Rabobank’s FoodBytes! food and innovation platform. “The 45 startups selected to participate in the FoodBytes! by Rabobank ag and innovation program in 2022 provide a neat snapshot into trending topics in food and agriculture, from personalized nutrition and upcycling to robotics and farm biologics,” wrote Food Navigator USA. Rabobank’s FoodBytes! is a platform that discovers the best and brightest emerging companies that are addressing the world’s biggest food challenges. The program manages to bring together the most promising startups, corporations and investors to create more sustainable solutions for the agricultural industry. Hypercell is developing molecular diagnostics and biotherapeutic treatments  to reduce the risk of another pandemic. Hypercell was selected for the FoodBytes! Program for its innovative way of developing technology that optimizes farming production decisions. The 45 startups are selected based on a variety of themes and criteria including meeting new consumer demands, developing technologies that optimize food production decisions and reimagining workplace conditions and operations.  The chosen companies participated in programming with access to industry executives, mentorship and relationship building with potential corporate partners and investors.

    Hypercell Technologies Selected as Standout Startup for FoodBytes! Program Read Post »