Recognition & Awards

Forbes examines the “secret sauce” for EnterpriseWorks startup Hypercell Technologies‘ success – partnering with leading universities such as University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and its award-winning incubator. The proximity to other startups in the EnterpriseWorks ecosystem fueled discovery and the building of community. “Partnering with the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana has provided Hypercell with immense support, including access to low-cost lab supplies (due to the University buying power), access to shared lab equipment (avoiding major capital investments), access to a wide array of scientific experts (both University and other start-up company staff), and a very effective incubator program at EnterpriseWorks which included training programs, support for government grants and assistance with hiring,” shares Hypercell’s co-founder and CEO Bruno Jactel in Forbes. EnterpriseWorks provided meaningful partnerships, state-of-the-art lab facilities, and mentor opportunities for Hypercell. Above all, the incubator offers camaraderie, allowing entrepreneurs to learn from each other’s successes and failures. “We’ve been a great peer community of entrepreneurs and technology experts working together and sharing their experiences and expertise,” says Laura Appenzeller, executive director of the University of Illinois Research Park. “That type of innovation community fuels new discovery and better outcomes for translational science.” Hypercell recently received the top prize of $1 million in funding and strategic mentorship at the 2023 Grow-NY Business Competition, a food and agriculture startup challenge. Read the entire Forbes article online here.

Alex Kosyakov and Thomas Rouffiac, co-founders of the EnterpriseWorks startup Natrion, have been named to  2024 Forbes 30 Under 30- Energy list. Natrion is developing battery technologies that can push the capabilities of EVs by solving the biggest issues that automakers and battery manufacturers face. Its mission is to service the industry with solutions that will enhance the mainstream market viability of electric vehicles and advance the world closer to a future of clean mobility. Natrion has received $3.2 million in funding from investors including Mark Cuban, and is now scaling its technology with support from companies like LG Energy Solution. Kosyakov and Roufflac, both 22,  join an esteemed group of EnterpriseWorks startup founders previously named on Forbes 30 Under 30 lists. They include Ascent Integrated Tech’s Paul Couston, IntelliWheels‘ Scott Daigle, Psyonic‘s Patrick Slade, and Electrolinks‘ Brett Walker. The Forbes 30 Under 30 list, now in its 13th year, recognized 600 people in 20 industries for 2024. To assemble the list, Forbes writers and editors—with the help of expert independent judges —evaluated more than 11,000 candidates on factors including funding, revenue, social impact, inventiveness, and potential. More information is here. 

Hypercell Technologies, an EnterpriseWorks startup, won the grand prize of $1 million at Grow-NY on November 15, 2023, in Binghamton, New York. Hypercell Technologies provides rapid point-of-care diagnostics for the food chain, ensuring early identification and management of biological contaminants from production to transformation with increased speed and accuracy. The company has developed novel biological solutions to control infectious diseases in production animals that cause major economic losses and present potential threats to human health. Hypercell wants to stop future human pandemics by proactively controlling viruses in animal reservoirs. “We’re excited to scale our business of rapid point-of-care diagnostics to improve the food chain in the Grow-NY region,” said Hypercell’s CEO and co-founder, Bruno Jactel. Grow-NY’s competition is open to international startups that meet the Grow-NY definition of ‘Food and Agricultural Field,’ are early-stage, and have a scalable business model. Seven businesses were selected from twenty finalists, including fellow EnterpriseWorks startup Agriwater, to receive prize awards totaling $3 million in the fifth annual competition. Learn more about the competition and its 2023 winners on the Grow-NY website.

The University of Illinois was ranked 15th in PitchBook’s annual university rankings list for alumni startup founders who have raised venture capital in the last decade. This list profiles global universities who have “truly exceptional track record of attracting and producing future entrepreneurs.” The rankings are determined based on PitchBook data analyzing more than 150,000 venture capital-backed founders. Additional ratings for the University of Illinois include: #3 in capital raised among U.S. public institutions #5 in graduate alumni founders among  U.S. public institutions #5 in undergraduate alumni founders among U.S. public institutions #7 in female alumni founders among U.S. public institutions UIUC alumni-founded companies have raised $20.8B through companies including Generate, GRAIL, Farmers Business Network, Heyday, and Plus. For more information and the complete list, visit the PitchBook website.