Color-Variation-Orange-Block-I-Blue-Background-1

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Research Park

    News

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards

    Veriflow Wins Open Innovation Challenge Award

    CHAMPAIGN — Veriflow Systems was selected as the Barclays “Innovation Challenge Winner,” beating out over 100 competing companies. This event is held to assess the latest technologies that are likely to drastically impact the banking scene in the future. Veriflow, a Research Park startup planted in EnterpriseWorks, is the first networking company to use continuous network verification to eliminate network outages and vulnerabilities. Read more about the challenge and Veriflow Systems here.

    Veriflow Wins Open Innovation Challenge Award Read Post »

    Media Mentions News Research Park

    Microsoft Chicago Blog Reflects on Research Park Visit

    CHAMPAIGN — Adam Hecktman, Microsoft’s Director of Technology & Civic Innovation for Chicago, visited Research Park last week. After a guided tour with the director Laura Frerichs, Hecktman was very impressed with the space and innovation filling it. Hecktman was able to meet with several corportate companies and startups, including: TEST, AE Machines, Ringr, Quicket Solutions, Soil Diagnostics, and Granular.

    Microsoft Chicago Blog Reflects on Research Park Visit Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News

    Reconstruct, EnterpriseWorks Startup, Announces Seed Round Funding

    Reconstruct, a computer vision based analytics company for the construction industry based in the EnterpriseWorks incubator, has received $850,000 of seed round funding. The raise was led by Serra Ventures, which is also based in the University of Illinois Research Park, with Illinois Ventures joining as part of the syndicate. Reconstruct was founded by Mani Golparvar-Fard, an assistant professor of Civil Engineering and affiliate Assistant Professor of Computer Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The company has been an enthusiastic participant in and consumer of entreprenuerial resources at the University of Illinois, including the I-Start program at EnterpriseWorks; I-Corps; and the Cozad New Venture Competition. ““Almost every large construction project experiences cost and time overruns.  Images captured by drones and other devices have the potential to improve efficiency, which translates directly to the bottom line.  Reconstruct is the only platform we have found that can turn those images together with BIM into actionable information about both actual and potential delays,” Serra Ventures Managing Partner Rob Schultz said in a press release.  Interested in learning more from CTO, Derek Hoiem? Visit the link.   

    Reconstruct, EnterpriseWorks Startup, Announces Seed Round Funding Read Post »

    News Research Park

    Bloomberg News Tells Why CME Group Put an Innovation Center at Research Park

    CHAMPAIGN — To increase coding and programming recruitment efforts, CME Group will be opening an Innovation Center in the University of Illinois Research Park on September 9. This will be CME Group’s first location on a college campus, and they hope to employ 10 student interns. Research Park Director, Laura Frerichs, said “As long as the growth of tech becomes increasingly imperative in the financial industry, which it seems to be, recruiting is going to continue to hike.” To read more about the operation, read the Bloomberg article here.  

    Bloomberg News Tells Why CME Group Put an Innovation Center at Research Park Read Post »

    News Research Park

    Research Park Growth Continues

    CHAMPAIGN – A recent survey conducted at the Research Park puts the employment total to 1,711. 594 of those employees are student interns, of which 57% are undergraduates and 43% are graduate students. Laura Frerichs, Research Park Director, says that “this years’ job numbers are a testament to the economic impact we have on the community. Since the opening of our first building in 2001, Research Park has continually attracted new partners, companies, and has given thousands of students the opportunity to work and gain experience in the tech industry while still in school. Our plans for future developments and corporate partnerships will only serve to make our impact deeper.” Currently, Research Park and the EnterpriseWorks startup incubator are home to over 100 companies, nine of which are Fortune 500, and 19 are publicly traded.

    Research Park Growth Continues Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News

    Veriflow Systems Raises $8.2 Million

    CHAMPAIGN – Veriflow Systems, an EnterpriseWorks tenant, has announced that they have raised $8.2 million in Series A funding. The fundraising effort was led by Menlo Ventures, and follows the nearly $3 million effort in April. Veriflow Systems develops an online network security software. They use verification technology to help protect networks against hackers and outages. Veriflow plans on using the funds to hire more engineers, work on its sales force, and boost their marketing across the industry. To learn more about this big invest read up on Yahoo! Finance.

    Veriflow Systems Raises $8.2 Million Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News

    Veriflow Systems Raises $2.9 Million, Announces CEO Hire

    Veriflow Systems, a startup based at EnterpriseWorks co-founded by two University of Illinos at Urbana-Champaign computer science faculty members, has announced a $2.9 million Series A funding round and a new CEO hire. The company, which has been in “stealth” mode, “uses mathematical network verification to help enterprises to prevent outages and breaches that lead to serious consequences.” The initial investor funding comes from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense. Their aim is to help companies be able to verify the strength of their computer networks through a patented “lightweight virtual machine” that can offer extra eyes and ears to an IT team watching for errors and breaches,” wrote Chicago Inno. Other Media Coverage: SiliconANGLE Network Computing

    Veriflow Systems Raises $2.9 Million, Announces CEO Hire Read Post »

    News Research Park

    Robert Scoble Visits Research Park

    Robert Scoble, blogger, technical evangelist, and author flew to visit the Champaign-Urbana tech community and wrote about what is happening here. The Economist wrote of him, “He has become a minor celebrity among geeks worldwide, who read his blog religiously.” He is currently a writer and works at Rackspace, he previously was a technology evangelist at Microsoft and writer at Fast Company. He sent out live interviews with tech companies during his visit. Those videos and more are up on Scoble’s Facebook page here. 

    Robert Scoble Visits Research Park Read Post »

    News Recognition & Awards

    2016 Innovation Celebration Winners Announced

    CHAMPAIGN, IL, January 25, 2016 – Over 400 people gathered at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts for the 11th Annual Innovation Celebration on the evening on January 22nd to recognize those individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions, taken risks, and provided leadership to ensure the continuing economic success of Champaign County, the ongoing success of the University’s economic development mission, and the growth of entrepreneurial talent and energy in the community. Innovation Celebration is not merely an award for accomplishment, but a benchmark of success for those outstanding individuals, organizations and corporations who are nominated and selected to receive this prestigious award. Innovation Celebration is hosted by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation in partnership with the University of Illinois, Parkland College, and community sponsors. For more information, visit www.innovationcelebration.com. Award Winners (Research Park/EnterpriseWorks tenants in orange) Entrepreneurial Excellence: Social Venture Award Pens to Lens Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award BioAnalytics Entrepreneurial Excellence: New Venture Award Inprentus Entrepreneurial Excellence: Advocacy Award Paul Magelli Innovation: Economic Development Impact Award Carle Illinois College of Medicine Entrepreneurial Excellence: Management Award Mike Folk Innovation: Longevity Award Wolfram Innovation Transfer Award – University of Illinois Dr. Paul Hergenrother Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award – University of Illinois The Wernsing Family Innovation in Engagement Award – Parkland College Dean Marietta Turner The EDC is pleased to work with the following sponsors of Innovation Celebration 2016: the University of Illinois’ Technology Entrepreneur Center, Research Park, Office of Corporate Relations, and Office of Technology Management, along with Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Parkland College, Singleton Law Firm, Serra Ventures, Pavlov Media, BRG Sports, City of Champaign, Village of Rantoul, Martin Hood Friese & Associates, EpiWorks, Illinois Applied Research Institute, Fox Development Corporation, Ramshaw Real Estate, Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC, U of I Employees Credit Union, Surface 51, M2 on Neil, and McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff. A special thanks to 40 North for producing the videos. See the videos here. Read Smile Politely’s coverage here. Read the News-Gazette’s coverage here.

    2016 Innovation Celebration Winners Announced Read Post »

    News Partnerships & Acquisitions Research Park

    Granular Celebrates Opening of New Regional Headquarters in Champaign

    New Office to Strengthen Recruiting and Research Ties with the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois SAN FRANCISCO – November 11, 2015 – Granular, a leader in farm management software, has expanded its operations to the Midwest, opening a regional headquarters in the University of Illinois Research Park. This new location will fuel the growth of Granular’s customer success, data science and engineering teams. Additionally, it will serve as a live training center for customers, and will allow Granular to work closely with farmers as they look to boost profitability across their operations “Granular has been very active in the U of I community, and by opening an office in the middle of our campus, it further affirms Granular’s dedication to our school, our community and the ag industry,” said Bruce Sherrick, professor of farmland economics and member of the Granular Advisory Board. “Granular’s forward-thinking team, which is dedicated to bringing solutions to help farmers increase productivity and profitability, combined with the university and other academic ag experts, has incredible potential.” Granular expects to continue strengthening its ties with the university to better understand farmers’ workflows and the business decisions they are making using Granular. “We have had great success hiring young men and women who grew up on farms and have studied agricultural economics or engineering at a top university,” said Sid Gorham, Granular co-founder and CEO. “Champaign-Urbana was an obvious choice for our second office given our collaboration with the university’s economics faculty, the strength of the ACES program, and the geographic dispersion of our customer base.” “Granular’s decision to expand here reflects the growth of agricultural technology as a cluster in Research Park, which leverages the knowledge of our faculty,” said Robert J. Hauser, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Granular’s presence in Champaign will open new opportunities for students at our college, giving them tools that will augment what they are learning in the classroom.” Granular is currently recruiting for a number of roles in different functions to help serve its growing customer base. For more information on Granular, including career opportunities, visit http://www.granular.ag. Read more about Granular’s grand opening in the News-Gazette. About Granular Granular is an agriculture software and analytics company dedicated to helping industry leaders build stronger and smarter farms. With cloud, mobile and advanced data science technology, the Granular platform makes it easier to manage a large farm and use data for critical business decisions. Granular’s rapidly growing network of farms in the U.S. and Canada is finding new ways to profit from aggregated data, expertise and market power. Granular is headquartered in San Francisco. http://www.granular.ag

    Granular Celebrates Opening of New Regional Headquarters in Champaign Read Post »