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

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Research Park

    Recognition & Awards

    Community EnterpriseWorks Media Mentions News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Research Park Named a Top Incubator and Accelerator

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Aug. 21, 2026) —The University of Illinois Research Park and EnterpriseWorks incubator have been recognized by TIME and Statista as one of America’s Best Incubators & Accelerators 2026. The inaugural ranking identifies the most outstanding hubs offering incubator and accelerator programs in the United States, evaluating each on track record, peer recommendations from industry experts, and measurable outcomes for the founders they serve. The Research Park was recognized as one of 13 incubators and accelerators operated by a university in the United States and among six incubators designated by TIME in the State of Illinois. EnterpriseWorks is a startup incubator located in the University of Illinois Research Park. It supports early-stage scientific and tech ventures affiliated with the university, including faculty and graduate student-founded teams, as well as other deep tech companies that have located their business at the Research Park for its support services. The incubator has 43,000 square feet of space and hosts 50 tenant companies at time. More than 400 startup companies have incubated at EnterpriseWorks in the Research Park in Champaign, IL since its opening. The companies have collectively raised over $1.6 billion in venture capital and secured more than $216 million in SBIR/STTR awards. The State of Illinois provided funding to build EnterpriseWorks, the early-stage tech firm business incubator in 2003, and it has been fully leased since it opened to companies that are accepted continuously. It is a significant bridge between research at the university and commercialization of technology by faculty, staff, and students. EnterpriseWorks is owned and operated by the University of Illinois as part of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation. EnterpriseWorks offers furnished offices and wet labs with advanced equipment, shared equipment labs, and a maker lab. Amenities include free parking, EV charging, kitchen, conference rooms, shower, mail services, and phone booths. LabWorks is an aligned growth-stage wet lab incubation facility in the Research Park funded by the Rebuild Illinois Wet Lab Capital Program. It offers turn-key labs for life sciences, short-term leases for industry partners, and access to shared equipment and support services. The incubator provides extensive support programs such as Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR), Designer-in-Residence, SBIR/STTR grant assistance through the IL FAST Center, Student Shared Services, and the Catapult New Venture Program. It also hosts events like Startup Café, CEO Roundtables, and workshops on topics like investment due diligence, intellectual property, and pricing strategies. In total the Research Park hosts more than 200 events annually with more than 10,000 participants, creating a vibrant technology hub in Champaign, IL. The Research Park has plans to expand its incubation capacity with a new EnterpriseWorks 2.0 (EW 2.0) growth stage incubator support with state capital, including grant funding awarded by the Illinois Department of Commerce (DCEO) Tech Incubator Enhancement Grant (TIEG) and funding as part of the IFAB Tech Hub. EW 2.0 is designed to be a new incubator (adjacent to EnterpriseWorks) to accommodate startup companies beyond the current incubator with an emphasis on laboratory, manufacturing, and office suites for scaling companies. This facility would include a combination of company suites along with shared collaboration space that continues to engage the Research Park community. ###

    Research Park Named a Top Incubator and Accelerator Read Post »

    Internships News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Research Park Celebrates Interns During the 20th Annual Intern Awards Ceremony

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (July 24, 2026) – The University of Illinois Research Park marked two decades of celebrating student talent during its 20th annual Intern Awards Ceremony, held July 23, 2026. The event recognized outstanding interns from corporate innovation centers and startups across the UIRP. Executive Director Laura Appenzeller noted that while the companies, projects and technologies represented at Research Park have changed over 20 years, the purpose of the ceremony has not: celebrating interns who make a real impact and reminding them that their work matters. Hundreds of student interns worked across Research Park this summer, building professional connections, sharpening technical and business skills, and contributing to projects that moved their companies forward. Managers and supervisors submitted nominations, and a deliberation committee of industry and Research Park representatives selected this year’s finalists and winners. Among the notable projects showcased, one intern helped originate more than 130 customer leads on his own, contributing to roughly $5 million a year in potential business for his company. Another built a 24/7 monitoring system that reduced one data-error condition from 98% to zero, cutting a full day’s worth of manual work down to hours. Together, the finalists and winners reflected the range of talent moving through Research Park this summer and the impact an internship can have early in a career. Awards were given in the following categories: Peer Impact Award | Best Startup Intern | Best Technical Innovation | Best Business Innovation | Most Outstanding Undergraduate Intern | Most Outstanding Graduate Intern | Most Competent and Collaborative Team Peer Impact Award New this year, the Peer Impact Award recognizes an intern who goes beyond the typical duties of an internship to make a meaningful impact on peers and teammates through collaboration, support and leadership. Listowell Appiah | Electric Power Engineers According to interns who nominated him:“He was proactively helping those of us from other schools and states before the internship had even started, by helping find places to live and providing honest advice on location and transportation. Once the internship started, he naturally became the go-to guide. He never just focused on his own tasks; he constantly checked in on the rest of us.” Best Startup Intern Emma Robben | GigaCrop Shawn Carlson, Head of Plant Transformation at GigaCrop:“Emma’s work has directly enabled two major milestones in GigaCrop’s technical development plan, milestones central to our business strategy and investor narrative. Her images are now used in board materials and GigaCrop’s investor pitch deck, where they serve as compelling visual evidence of the company’s progress.” Finalists:Aryan Jalilian | NatrionNihar Jog | Erg Bio, Inc. Best Technical Innovation Josh George | Mondelēz International FutureLab Matt Tomlinson, Extended Reality & Metaverse Lead at the Mondelēz International FutureLab: “Josh solved three real business problems that had no prior solution, creating entirely new capabilities for consumer research, scientific visualization and marketing analytics. What stands out is that Josh did this across three unrelated technology areas, without hand-holding, and built solutions the organization will continue to use beyond the internship.” Finalists:Owen Siemons | EverfoxAditya Kamath | Rivian Best Business Innovation Cindy Zou | Dow Delivery Center Jen Quinlan, Site Director at the Dow Delivery Center:“Cindy solved a common time sink for Dow’s data and platform engineers: manually checking pipelines and errors every day. She turned that process into a 24/7 monitoring system that can detect problems, classify them, notify the right people and help determine the next step, an estimated fourfold improvement in efficiency.” Finalists:Son Nguyen Huynh | Mondelēz International Future LabIsabella Chou | Mondelēz International Future Lab Most Outstanding Undergraduate Intern This category drew such accomplished interns that judges selected four finalists. Ritvik Gupta | Rivian Kerry Chayka, Sr. Staff Electronic Design Engineer at Rivian:“Ritvik completed the workload we had set aside for an entire semester in about two weeks. His work helped inform a key decision to unblock the ramp of an R2 supply-chain component, and when a full-time firmware employee went on leave, Ritvik took over critical testing coverage for a vendor.” Finalists:Rishi Garhyan | Brunswick Boating Intelligence DesignLabCooper Sweet | EverfoxTommy Miller | Mondelēz International Future Lab Most Outstanding Graduate Intern Alexander Matveev | State Farm Betsy Podkowa, Lead Data Scientist at State Farm: “Throughout the past year, I have seen Alexander grow as an intern, as a data scientist, and as a person, but this semester he truly stepped up, demonstrating consistent growth, dedication, passion, and leadership. He took ownership of his project from the start, performing project scoping and timeline creation himself. He has worked effectively without detailed instructions and dives deeply into various ideas and alternative solutions, using solid reason and decision making to push his project forward while maintaining the overall vision. In addition to working well with his project partners, his presence in the office as a leader and colleague contributed to a noticeably positive environment. He helped his fellow interns through technical and professional roadblocks, encouraging true understanding of various concepts, and made sure everyone felt included and welcome. Overall, Alexander has been an exemplary MAGNet intern and is seen as a role model for others.” “Alexander’s project is helping State Farm decide whether to pay for a vendor tool or build an internal solution, but his impact went well beyond his own work. He created and led a study group that helped multiple interns prepare for full-time interviews, and those efforts contributed to multiple full-time offers.” Finalists:Ayush Thakkar | COUNTRY Financial DigitaLabAryan Jalilian | Natrion Most Competent and Collaborative Team Dow Delivery Center Jen Quinlan, Site Director at the Dow Delivery Center:“This team made critical data validation easier, faster and more accessible for business users. The team turned that problem into a guided, self-service workflow that lets business users participate directly in data quality work while reducing dependence on specialized engineering support.” Finalists:Brunswick Boating Intelligence DesignLabEpivara Table Tennis Tournament Research Park also recognized the winners of its annual Table Tennis Tournament, one of the summer’s most popular traditions for building community across companies. This year’s champions were

    Research Park Celebrates Interns During the 20th Annual Intern Awards Ceremony Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards

    ForgeBee Wins 2026 Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Award

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (March 11, 2026) – ForgeBee, a startup developing automated systems for honey bee production, received the 10th annual Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Award in a ceremony at the 2026 AgTech Innovation Summit. The prize, generously funded by a family of University of Illinois alumni rewards EnterpriseWorks entrepreneurs focusing on agricultural innovations. Members of the Moore family, whose patriarch farmed in Northern Illinois, presented the $5,000 cash prize to ForgeBee during the Summit. Founded in 2024 by world renowned bee expert Gene Robinson, a U. of I. faculty member and his former graduate student Adam Hamilton, ForgeBee addresses the need for better pollination systems to support food security. “ForgeBee is an opportunity to greatly expand the possibilities of pollination and beekeeping in the United States and around the world,” said Hamilton, who recently was named ForgeBee’s CEO. Instead of renting or buying entire bee colonies, ForgeBee’s technology allows farmers to use a smaller section of a colony. This approach costs less and requires fewer resources than existing methods. “That’s what we do at Illinois. We regularly disrupt industries,” said Robinson. “There’s a long tradition of that here, emanating from the University and through Research Park and EnterpriseWorks. We are a part of that culture, and so we embody that and take that as a goal.” ForgeBee plans to use the prize money to purchase its own honey bees and support a colony in the Research Park for research purposes. The Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Award’s goal is to encourage startup companies engaged in the development of new innovative technologies that may lead to increased productivity and/or efficiency in farming or to create new agricultural opportunities, including new processes, new crops and new food production systems. Previous Edwin Moore Agriculture Innovation Award winners include: Boston Bioprocess, 2025 Hypercell Technologies, 2024 HarvestIQ (formerly Farmers Risk), 2023 FrostDefense Envirotech, 2022 Epivara, 2021 Habiterre (formerly Aspiring Universe), 2020 TellTail, 2019 EarthSense, 2018 Soil Diagnostics, 2017 About the Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Award The Edwin Moore Agriculture Innovation Fund was established in 2016 with a generous gift to EnterpriseWorks, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s technology incubator. The award honors the legacy of Edwin E. Moore (1924), who graduated from the University of Illinois College of Agriculture and began farming in Will County. Throughout his agricultural career, he and his wife, Iva, used innovative farming practices for both crop production and livestock management. Two of their four children became farmers, Edwin and Thomas (1953, College of Agriculture), and continued the use of innovative farm practices. Subsequent generations of Edwin Moore’s family have continued to pursue farming and ag related careers capturing the same innovative spirit. About Research Park at the University of Illinois Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a technology hub for startup companies, corporate research and development operations. Within Research Park there are 120 companies employing students and full-time technology professionals. More information is available at researchpark.illinois.edu.

    ForgeBee Wins 2026 Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Award Read Post »

    AgTech Summit EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    C16 Biosciences Wins 2026 Startup World Cup: Agriculture and Food Regional 

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (March 17, 2026) — A panel of investors named C16 Biosciences the winner of the Startup World Cup: Agriculture and Food Regional on March 10, advancing the company to the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco where it will compete for a $1 million investment. The regional, held at the  11th Annual AgTech Summit in Champaign, was hosted by the University of Illinois Research Park in partnership with  Serra Ventures, Startup World Cup, and Pegasus Tech Ventures. Now in its second year, the competition drew 10 startups from across the country to compete. C16 Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer David Heller represented the company during the pitch competition. “We’re really excited about this,” he told Illinois Public Media. “It shows that one, we’re at a stage that’s inspiring some confidence in folks in the industry and two, that we’ve built something pretty exciting.” Founded in 2017, C16 Biosciences develops microbial alternatives to palm oil through fermentation and biotechnology, targeting a growing vulnerability in agricultural supply chains. Palm oil is found in nearly 50% of products on supermarket shelves, yet 90% of global production comes from just two countries, leaving food manufacturers and consumer goods companies exposed to significant supply and price risk. Conventional palm oil production is also one of the leading drivers of tropical deforestation. C16 addresses that problem by producing fats and oils at industrial scale without extracting them from plants or animals, supplying its Palmless product line across the beauty, personal care, food, and home care sectors. C16 Biosciences is a member of the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) consortium and the Access to Capital and Entrepreneurship Council, and has engaged with the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL) for pilot scale development. Judges included: ### About the AgTech Summit The AgTech Innovation Summit brings together leaders in agricultural technology, entrepreneurship, investment, and academia to address pressing agricultural challenges and explore emerging solutions. This interactive conference hosted by the University of Illinois Research Park features dynamic panel discussions, keynote presentations, and valuable networking opportunities. To learn more about the AgTech Innovation Summit, visit the  Research Park website. About the Startup World Cup The Startup World Cup is a global series of startup competitions and conferences powered by Pegasus Tech Ventures. With over 100 regional events across 60+ countries, the competition culminates in a Grand Finale in Silicon Valley, where the top startups from each region will compete for a $1 million investment prize. For a complete list of regional events, visit the Startup World Cup website. About Pegasus Tech Ventures Pegasus Tech Ventures is a leading global venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley, with over $2 billion in assets under management. Pegasus supports emerging technology companies worldwide by providing both intellectual and financial capital. They also offer a unique Venture Capital-as-a-Service (VCaaS) model for large corporations looking to partner with cutting-edge startups. Learn more at Pegasus Tech Ventures.

    C16 Biosciences Wins 2026 Startup World Cup: Agriculture and Food Regional  Read Post »

    AgTech Summit EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park Startup

    Finalists Announced for Startup World Cup: Agriculture And Food Regional Pitch Competition

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (March 4, 2026) — In partnership with Pegasus Tech Ventures and Serra Ventures, the University of Illinois Research Park is excited to announce the 10 startups selected as finalists for the Startup World Cup: Agriculture and Food Regional pitch competition. The second annual event will take place during the AgTech Innovation Summit on March 10 in Champaign, where the 10 finalists will present their business ideas and models to a judging panel of investors and industry experts. The winner will move on to the Startup World Cup Finale in November, where it will compete against other regional winners for a $1 million investment. The following startups have been selected to compete at the Startup World Cup Agriculture and Food Regional: American Prime Sustainable Solutions – From space to field, American Prime turns satellite and AI intelligence into real-time agricultural decisions, powering autonomous action, scalable operations and measurable outcomes across every acre. C16 Biosciences – Produces fermentation-derived oils that outperform traditional commodities on stability and sustainability while supplying global brands at commercial scale. DMR INTERNATIONAL INC. – Provides a drop-in antimicrobial pellet solution that upgrades stormwater and wastewater treatment performance without new infrastructure or hazardous chemicals. Explain Ag – Builds science-based enterprise software that embeds predictive agronomic intelligence into customer systems to drive scalable sales growth and durable competitive advantage. Farmland Stock Exchange – Connects retiring landowners with tenant farmers to solve farmland succession and access challenges, leveraging deep Illinois roots and strategic farmer-investors to secure first-mover advantage and trusted deal flow. GigaCrop, Inc. – Engineers enhanced photosynthesis seed traits that bypass biological yield limits to double crop productivity and improve drought resilience across major crops. LegacyAcres – Digitizes farm succession planning with expert-built logic and strategic distribution partnerships that help farm families transition ownership with clarity and confidence. Soil1 LLC – Delivers sub-$1, instant soil health testing that empowers farmers to make real-time regenerative and carbon-smart decisions without relying on costly lab analysis. SpecVision – Turns equipment photos into verified specifications in minutes, delivering 75% lower assessment costs while building the industry’s first compounding equipment data layer. TerraForce, Inc. – Deploys farm-scale robotic fruit harvesters that match human labor costs while delivering faster, safer and compliance-free picking and packing. About the AgTech Summit The AgTech Innovation Summit brings together leaders in industry, entrepreneurs, investors and academics to address pressing agricultural challenges and explore emerging solutions. Programmed and hosted by University of Illinois Research Park, 2026 marks the 11th edition of this annual event. AgTech is one of the fastest growing industry clusters in the Research Park and the broader Champaign-Urbana region. To learn more about the AgTech Summit, visit the event homepage. About the Startup World Cup The Startup World Cup is a global series of startup competitions and conferences powered by Pegasus Tech Ventures. With over 100 regional events across 60+ countries, the competition culminates in a Grand Finale in Silicon Valley on November 6, 20256 where the top startups from each region will compete for a $1 million investment prize. For a complete list of regional events, visit the Startup World Cup website. About Pegasus Tech Ventures Pegasus Tech Ventures is a leading global venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley, with over $2 billion in assets under management. Pegasus supports emerging technology companies worldwide by providing both intellectual and financial capital. They also offer a unique Venture Capital-as-a-Service (VCaaS) model for large corporations looking to partner with cutting-edge startups. Learn more at the Pegasus Tech Ventures website.  

    Finalists Announced for Startup World Cup: Agriculture And Food Regional Pitch Competition Read Post »

    AgTech Summit News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Nominations Sought for 2026 Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Dec. 1, 2025) – Nominations are now being accepted for the sixth annual Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism, recognizing an Illinois farmer for their role in advancing innovation and entrepreneurship in the ag sector. View the nomination form here. The deadline for submission is Feb. 2, 2026. Established in 2021 to honor the memory of GB Brandt, a legendary figure in the field of Illinois agriculture, the $10,000 cash prize will be awarded to a nominee who exemplifies an entrepreneurial spirit and advances innovation through their business practices, crop growing processes, or product usage. The prize is a partnership between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and The BRANDT Foundation. The winner will be announced and recognized at the AgTech Innovation Summit, an annual event produced by the University of Illinois Research Park on March 10, 2026. Those eligible for the prize include Illinois farmers, growers and producers or those engaged with Illinois farmers, growers and producers. Nominees should be connected with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and/or its affiliates, including University of Illinois Extension. A full list of eligibility criteria is available in the nomination form. Roger Bock, fifth-generation farmer and owner of Wolf Creek Farm in Williamsville, Illinois was the fifth annual recipient of the Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism. A University of Illinois alumnus, Bock works with the University of Illinois Extension and plant science department to optimize lesser growing areas by rotating in edible crops across his 1,200-acre operation of corn, soybeans, and specialty vegetables. Read the full story on the Research Park website. Past Brandt Prize Winners About The BRANDT Foundation The BRANDT Foundation was established in 2012 as a philanthropic extension of BRANDT, Inc. The Brandt family has always stood with their communities and as their company grew, so did the opportunities to give back. The BRANDT Foundation offers donations, grants, and support to the farms, charities, and organizations in the areas where the company does business. About the AgTech Innovation Summit Hosted by the University of Illinois Research Park, the AgTech Innovation Summit is an interactive conference where participants learn and share knowledge about the current state of AgTech and get a look into the future through dynamic panels, inspiring keynote presentations, and networking opportunities. One of the premier AgTech hubs in the nation, Champaign-Urbana is uniquely positioned to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and industry for learning, networking, and advancing this sector. Contacts Karl BarnhartThe BRANDT Foundation karl.barnhart@brandt.co Laura BleillResearch Parklwbleill@illinois.edu ###

    Nominations Sought for 2026 Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    EarthSense Competes in Startup World Cup Grand Finale

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Oct. 21, 2025) — EarthSense, an EnterpriseWorks graduate based at the University of Illinois Research Park, competed in the Startup World Cup semifinals in San Francisco on Oct. 17, 2025. Founded in 2016 by CEO Chinmay Soman and CTO Girish Chowdhary, EarthSense develops autonomous robots and artificial intelligence technology for agriculture. The company’s flagship products use machine vision and machine learning to collect crop health data and convert it into actionable insights for farmers, agronomists and crop breeders. Soman represented EarthSense at the competition after guiding the company through the Agriculture and Food Regional round held at the 10th Annual AgTech Summit earlier this year. Competing startups pitched their companies to a panel of investors for the chance to win the competition’s $1 million grand prize. The Startup World Cup is a global series of startup competitions and conferences organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures. The competition spans more than 100 regional events across 60-plus countries, with the field ultimately narrowing to a Grand Finale held in San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2025.

    EarthSense Competes in Startup World Cup Grand Finale Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Media Mentions News Recognition & Awards

    HabiTerre Founder Kaiyu Guan Honored for Excellence in Agricultural Research Innovation

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Kaiyu Guan, founder of EnterpriseWork startup, HabiTerre and scientist in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, has been named the recipient of the 2025 national agInnovation award for Excellence in Agricultural Research Innovation. The award was given in recognition of Guan’s contributions to agroecosystem science, particularly his efforts to improve food security and environmental sustainability. Guan, who was also recognized with the North Central regional award earlier this year, serves as Chief Scientist of NASA Acres and is the founding director of the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center at Illinois. Through his efforts to advance modern agriculture by leading interdisciplinary teams, he has collected over $40 million in research funding, published more than 180 scholarly articles, and received multiple national awards. Guan maintains affiliations with several research institutes at Illinois, including the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the Center for Digital Agriculture, and the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science. The agInnovation organization represents the national network of State Agricultural Experiment Stations, established under the Hatch Act of 1887. It supports multistate collaborations aimed at addressing critical challenges in agriculture, food systems, and natural resource management. Guan will be honored at a September ceremony alongside ACES Dean Germán Bollero, who will receive the 2025 agInnovation Excellence in Leadership Award. Research in the College of ACES is supported in part by Hatch funding from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

    HabiTerre Founder Kaiyu Guan Honored for Excellence in Agricultural Research Innovation Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards

    Photon Queue CEO Selected for Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill., (July 14, 2025) – /U.S. Department of Energy/ — Nathan Arnold, CEO of EnterpriseWorks startup Photon Queue, has been selected for the ninth cohort of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, a highly competitive initiative designed to support early-stage energy startups on their path toward commercialization. Arnold is one of just 27 entrepreneurs nationwide chosen for the fellowship. He will join the Chain Reaction Innovations program at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, where he will work with a network of mentors and experts to develop transformative energy technologies. “This two-year fellowship will give us access to world-class facilities, mentorship from entrepreneurs and researchers and will help us accelerate our products to market,” said Photon Queue on LinkedIn. “We are beyond excited to grow our presence in the Chicago quantum ecosystem and push the boundaries of efficient photon storage through this program.” Photon Queue’s selection into LEEP marks the latest step in its efforts to scale its quantum memory hardware for industry adoption, a journey rooted in its home at the University of Illinois Research Park. The startup recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, having launched through the Duality Quantum Accelerator, secured its first two sales and pitched to West Coast venture capitalists during the Quantum Startup Pitch Competition and San Francisco’s Deep Tech Week. Past fellows have developed breakthrough technologies that became the foundation of thriving businesses. Since the program’s inception in 2015, 182 LEEP startups have attracted $4.2 billion in follow-on funding and created more than 3,800 jobs, according to a press release from the DOE. Participants perform critical research and development to hone their startup technologies with the goal of advancing those technologies from lab to market. The program also supports fellows by providing training in business development, networking opportunities and access to the resources and expertise of the U.S. national laboratories. “The LEEP Program epitomizes DOE’s commitment to empowering American inventors and entrepreneurs to improve the affordability, reliability, and security of our energy system,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Lou Hrkman. “I look forward to seeing this new round of fellows make its mark on American energy and manufacturing.” About Photon Queue Photon Queue is a hardware company developing quantum memories and the first quantum startup from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The company aims to become the premier supplier of photonic quantum memories for the emerging quantum communication, networking, and computing sectors. Quantum memories comprise many of the required components for these sectors and will command a significant fraction of this market size, but the currently available quantum memory technologies lack many performance metrics. The quantum memory technology at Photon Queue has been pioneered by the research group of Prof. Paul Kwiat over the past two decades. It outperforms all competing technologies in head-to-head comparisons for several critical quantum applications. The company aims to accelerate the realization of important quantum applications by providing high-performance quantum memories. About EnterpriseWorks at University of Illinois Research Park EnterpriseWorks is the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s technology incubator. Its mission is to launch, support, and advance successful science-based startups that are commercializing disruptive technologies. EnterpriseWorks is located at University of Illinois Research Park, an innovation hub for technology commercialization with a unique environment that cultivates startups and increases capabilities for established. Located on campus, Research Park has more than 120 companies and growing, employing over 2,100 people in high-technology careers. 

    Photon Queue CEO Selected for Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program Read Post »