State of Entrepreneurship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE BERTHIAUME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

From the Chancellor

2

Tradition of Entrepreneurship

4 Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship 6

Social Entrepreneurship

8

Entrepreneurship Facilitators

10

Institute for Applied Life Sciences

12

College of Information and Computer Sciences

14

Innovation Challenge

16

Innovation Challenge Winner

18

Collegiate Summer Venture Program

20

Office of Research and Engagement

22

College of Natural Sciences

24

Beyond UMass

28

Massachusetts Small Business Development Center

30

Entrepreneurship Resources Across Campus

INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP STEERING COMMITTEE This Chancellor’s-level group meets regularly to coordinate and facilitate cross-campus entrepreneurship efforts.

2018-2019 MEMBERS: Stephen Cavanagh Dean, College of Nursing Laura Haas Dean, College of Information and Computer Sciences Christopher Hollot Interim Dean, College of Engineering

Summer 2019 I am immensely proud to present to you the inaugural State of Entrepreneurship at the University of Massachusetts, brought to you by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship at the Isenberg School of Management.

What better opportunity to showcase our revolutionary thinking and entrepreneurial spirit than with this uplifting and inspiring report on our efforts? Innovation and entrepreneurship have long been at the core of what drives us, and in recent years, our focus on excellence at every level of the university has yielded unprecedented momentum across a wide array of metrics.

With the debut of this report, we celebrate our success and reaffirm our commitment to challenge convention and capitalize on new ideas. By never settling for ordinary and continually pushing ourselves to new heights, we are forging an environment that encourages scholars, innovators, and entrepreneurs to transform their own pioneering ideas into reality. This is what it means to “Be Revolutionary.”

As the flagship campus of the commonwealth, we feel it is our duty to represent the university to the best of our ability at all times, so it is with tremendous enthusiasm that we share the breadth and depth of these contributions with our constituencies throughout Massachusetts and beyond.

This is a story we are very excited to tell.

Charles J. Johnson Managing Director, Maroon Venture Partners Fund Bob MacWright Director, Technology Transfer Office Mike Malone Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement John McCarthy Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Thomas P. Moliterno Interim Dean of the Isenberg School of Management and Earl W. Stafford Professor of Management Peter Reinhart Founding Director, Institute for Applied Life Sciences Tricia Serio Dean, College of Natural Sciences Gregory Thomas ’91 Executive Director, Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship

Thank you and GO UMASS! Sincerely,

Kumble R. Subbaswamy Chancellor

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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TRADITION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

A HISTORY OF THE WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM

By Rick Feldman ’73, ’86G With a blended career of business, social action, and academia spanning nearly 50 years in the Pioneer Valley, UMass alumnus Rick Feldman continues to focus on entrepreneurship and social enterprise development as a lecturer at Mount Holyoke College.

G

eneral George Washington himself saw the promise of western Massachusetts, when in 1777, he chose Springfield as the site for the U.S. National Armory. Before Washington and ever since, the Springfield area has been a hub of innovation. Throughout the region, agriculture, wood products, rural enterprises, and colleges have supported engineering since that time. Many small and innovative businesses in metal and precision manufacturing started, including, in 1901, the legendary Indian Motorcycle company in Springfield.

The University of Massachusetts, founded in 1863 as a land-grant institution, nurtured the rural development ecosystem, especially through cooperative extensions.

These local offices have worked in partnership with the university and the federal government to share education and research with farmers, business owners, and families since 1914. The cooperative extensions had technical assistance programs and advisors for wood technologies, natural resources including alternative energy innovations, and agricultural innovations.

New machines, new technologies, and new inventions came out of this, and the services were linked back into regional efforts.

Startup Focus The Springfield Armory National Historic Site.

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UMass Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management (founded as the School of Business Administration in 1947) and the affiliated Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC) have become focal points of expertise, outreach, and support services for small businesses and startups. The Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship was established in 2014, thanks to a generous gift from Doug Berthiaume ’71 and his wife, Diana, with the goal of serving as a catalyst for the many UMass Amherst entrepreneurial resources and experts.

After the Digital Equipment Corporation—maker of the short-lived Rainbow personal computer—

closed its manufacturing plant in Springfield in 1992, Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) took over the campus, renovating one of the buildings and creating the region’s first fully supported incubator, Scibelli Enterprise Center, for high-tech startups. At the other end of the valley, UMass Amherst built Venture Way in the mid-1980s as a state-of-the-art incubator for technology businesses as well as a hub for enterprises and investing. It’s still the home of the university’s Technology Transfer Office.

A New Direction Since 2003, western Massachusetts has seen the emergence of a purposeful entrepreneurial ecosystem.

That year, the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative started with the mission of supporting entrepreneurial efforts and education for students at 14 area colleges.

By engaging all the regional schools, the focus shifted to a broader network, allowing more people with more skills and ideas to get actively engaged.

Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) emerged in 2011 and had a similar impact: It was created and supported by individuals and businesses—energetic people who had an expanded vision of what was possible. VVM eventually brought together more than 100 business leaders, educators (including all the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative faculty), and regional decision-makers every month. Giving life to renovated space in the heart of downtown Springfield, VVM now has more than 75 members operating and utilizing its coworking facilities.

The Berthiaume Center—with new leadership this year in Executive Director Gregory S. Thomas—also actively nurtures local startups. Since its inception, nearly 200 ventures have been assisted and more than $325,000 has been awarded in equity-free funding.

Berthiaume, which has run a summer accelerator for promising startups since 2017, is joining forces with VVM for 2019’s Collegiate Summer Venture Program.

National Park Service

UMass as depicted in 1879 (top left), the cover of a 1916 Indian Motorcycle catalog (right), Indian’s Springfield factory circa 1917 (far right), and Women Ordnance Workers (or WOWs) at the Springfield Armory during World War II (above).

In addition, there are now four funders located in the Valley—Maroon Fund, Springfield Venture Fund, the Alchemy Fund, and River Valley Investors—up from just one five years ago. Plus, local high-tech companies MachineMetrics, Galaxy.AI, and System One have raised $18 million in outside capital recently. Western Massachusetts is unique, given its proximity to Boston, in demographics and university concentration (with 14 colleges and universities and more than 85,000 students), and these deeper relationships among colleges, nonprofits, foundations, and startups all strengthen the ability of the Pioneer Valley ecosystem partners to improve and support the regional economy.

Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative Local real estate entrepreneur Harold Grinspoon developed the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative (EI) in 2003 (a program of the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation) to elevate the importance of entrepreneurship and recognize entrepreneurial excellence among college students.

The mission of the EI is to encourage entrepreneurial activity in the Pioneer Valley by fostering an educational environment among participating colleges and universities that informs, supports, and inspires students, and by recognizing and awarding students who display entrepreneurial spirit.

Grinspoon EI hosts two high-profile events—an annual fall conference and a spring awards banquet—and recognizes outstanding students with Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards.

Member Institutions American International College Amherst College Bay Path University Elms College Greenfield Community College Hampshire College Holyoke Community College

Mount Holyoke College Smith College Springfield College Springfield Technical Community College University of Massachusetts Western New England University Westfield State University

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

3

BERTHIAUME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

CATALYST AND CONNECTOR The Berthiaume Center supports entrepreneurship efforts across campus, in the Pioneer Valley, and throughout the commonwealth.

“W

e’re creating what I like to call a ‘net’ for the student population and entrepreneurs we serve,” says Berthiaume Center Executive Director Gregory Thomas, likening a pitch competition to walking a tightrope. “If they fall, and don’t win, we catch them in our net and continue to coach them through our programs. Once we get students in through the Innovation Challenge, Idea Jams, and our student clubs, they’re part of our community.”

In February, 15 teams competed in the semifinal of the Innovation Challenge (see page 14). Of those 15 teams, six were tapped to compete in the April final.

But what of the other nine teams who braved the tightrope and worked up pitches for products and services ranging from nutritional supplements to medicine-dispensing vending machines? Jaida Fonfield, for example, is a sophomore economics major at UMass who pitched her clothing business at the event. Her company, Sinclaire, sells women’s suits. While it didn’t win a spot in the final, Fonfield won’t disappear from the Berthiaume ecosystem— she’s a member of the Entrepreneurship Club and was selected to compete in Smith College’s Draper Competition.

When Diana and Doug Berthiaume donated $10 million to the Isenberg School of Management to establish their namesake center, they envisioned it as a hub connecting the many elements of the entrepreneurial ecosystem on the UMass campus and around the Pioneer Valley. The partnerships and connections are vital to the Berthiaume Center’s work, but Thomas finds that its role is as much a catalyst as a hub: “We’re creating opportunities for collision and explosion. The support, coaching, mentorship, guidance, education through courses and workshops, and one-on-one consulting set up our student entrepreneurs for meetings that can provide the spark a great idea needs to make it a viable venture.”

Jaida Fonfield pitching her venture.

Berthiaume’s status as an Isenberg center doesn’t inhibit this umbrella goal—although many of the students who enroll in formal entrepreneurship courses (which are open to enrollees from across campus) tend to be management majors, they’re in the minority of participants in extracurricular programs.

The four stages of the Innovation Challenge; the Collegiate Summer Venture Program, which serves as an incubator for promising ventures; and regular Idea Jams, where students gather (with food) to discuss and test ideas, have attracted participants from across campus. The Berthiaume Center has organized specific Idea Jams within the Colleges of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Humanities and Fine Arts, and in the Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration program, with plans to expand these efforts moving forward.

The center’s net also includes alumni, both on the venture side and as mentors, advisors, and donors— Innovation Challenge prizes are entirely funded

by donations, and the Collegiate Summer Venture Program is supported by Earl W. Stafford ’76 and Valley Venture Mentors (VVM), an ecosystem partner.

Berthiaume helps the entrepreneurs who come into the net connect with resources inside and outside the UMass campus—students who need an employer identification number (EIN) or who want to form a limited liability company (LLC) are referred to the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC); those needing intellectual property advice are referred to the university’s Technology Transfer Office (TTO); when entities are developed enough, The Berthiaume Center helps them connect with angel investors, including the campus Maroon Fund and the local River Valley Investors.

“We’re about so much more than the competitions,” Thomas says. “We’re helping all the budding entrepreneurs in our net who have the courage, curiosity, and grit to keep on making their ventures better.”

Have a great venture idea? Find out more about Berthiaume at isenberg.umass.edu/bce

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STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

EY Partnership with the Berthiaume Center Consulting firm EY has been a major supporter of entrepreneurship efforts on the UMass campus and particularly at the Berthiaume Center since initiating a multi-year sponsorship program in 2013 that has brought more than $500,000 to the school.

“Aligning with the Berthiaume Center makes perfect strategic sense for EY, since we view entrepreneurship as a cornerstone of our brand,” notes Jason Janoff ’93, the EY partner who helped mobilize fellow Isenberg alumni and the firm behind the gift to Berthiaume.

Having a Big Four accounting firm active on campus highlights the important connections that exist between individual entrepreneurs and industry resources as well. Beyond financial support, EY’s gift enabled Isenberg to participate in the firm’s annual New England Entrepreneur of the Year program, including nominating prospects for awards and being recognized as a partner at events.

“We’ve always been focused on the strategic growth market across the firm, and as a result, we are the auditors for many of the best entrepreneurial success stories in the country,” Janoff emphasizes.

“In Boston, EY also has the leading market share among our competitors in working with clients through the IPO process. Our relationship with the Berthiaume Center is a natural fit. It’s very much a win-win.”

Entrepreneurship Club Where can a nascent UMass student entrepreneur go to find advice, inspiration, partners, mentors, and maybe even equity-free funding? The Entrepreneurship Club was founded to support, foster, and empower existing and future student entrepreneurs at UMass. The club looks to cultivate and contribute to an ecosystem that encourages innovative thinking, creativity, and fluidity.

The 150+ participants come from eight of the nine schools and colleges on campus (with 65 percent majoring in areas outside of Isenberg). The club’s executive board continues to pursue opportunities to build an inclusive and welcoming community, engaging with populations from around campus that bring diversity of thought to ultimately strengthen the startups that develop. isenberg.umass.edu/people/umass-entrepreneurship-club

Berthiaume Gift Douglas Berthiaume ’71 and his wife, Diana, donated $10 million to create the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship in 2014. “I have seen firsthand how great research, a committed faculty, and private partnerships give students a richer learning environment,” Doug Berthiaume says.

Before retiring in 2017, he spent more than two decades leading the Milford, Mass.,–based Waters Corporation, which designs, manufactures, sells, and services equipment for laboratory analysis, as the company’s chairman.

“I owe something to this university,” he notes.

It prepared me for my success later on in life, and that’s a very good reason why I should share some of that success by giving back to the school.”

BERTHIAUME CENTER’S IMPACT

$375,000+ Funds awarded

130+

Ventures assisted

350+

Berthiaume Center staff (left to right): Molly O’Mara, communications, events and constituent relations; Gregory Thomas, executive director; Amy McLain, office manager; Carly Forcade, operations and student engagement.

Pitches made As of June 5, 2019

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Dream not only of what is possible, but of what you consider to be improbable— and go for it. That entails using your success to go out and help others. It is just as important to business education as accounting or finance.

—Earl W. Stafford ’76

BUSINESSES THAT CHANGE SOCIETY

M

any startups in the UMass Amherst community grow out of ideas or research that can solve problems and improve lives. Maintaining the vision for the social value creation behind these endeavors while keeping their founders on a productive path requires careful and clear-headed planning, which is a primary goal of 1976 Isenberg graduate Earl W. Stafford.

“What’s important is that you dream,” Stafford advises. “Dream not only of what is possible, but of what you consider to be improbable—and go for it. That entails using your success to go out and help others. It is just as important to business education as accounting or finance.”

At Isenberg, Stafford has walked that talk through his support for the school’s initiatives in both social and commercial entrepreneurship. That includes contributing working capital for Isenberg’s Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, which fosters campus-wide student entrepreneurship.

“We need to teach young people in business schools that there are alternatives to working in the corporate world, including entrepreneurship

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and nonprofit organizations,” observes Stafford. His own career has been a case in point. Twelve years after graduating from Isenberg, the entrepreneurial alumnus launched Unitech, a worldwide supplier of multiple integrated laser engagement systems for military weapons simulations and interactive training.

Since selling the company to Lockheed Martin in 2009, Stafford has focused on two ventures. Through his privately held equity firm, the Wentworth Group, he invests in technology-focused small businesses.

Through the Stafford Foundation, which he launched in 2002, he empowers people and organizations through giving that yields selfsufficiency and sustainability.

Perhaps the foundation’s highest-profile undertaking was its People’s Inaugural Project in 2009. That initiative brought 400 disadvantaged citizens to President Obama’s inauguration, where they participated in a People’s Inaugural Ball, prayer breakfast, luncheon, and other events.

Social Entrepreneurship at UMass The Social Entrepreneurship Club aims to support new startups with a core of social value creation while expanding general awareness of the importance of social enterprises, which strive to achieve both positive profit margins and positive social impacts. The club partners with the Isenberg School of Management, the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Sustainable Projects Abroad Club to support the growth and importance of social entrepreneurship on the UMass Amherst campus and beyond.

Throughout the year, the club focuses on three events:

• Sustainathon is a hackathon-style event

dedicated to finding a sustainable solution to a recurrent problem on campus and in the world as well as focusing on human impact and considering profit margin.

• Designed around the U.N.’s Sustainable

Development Goals, the Social Innovation Conference is a day-long program of informative panels, an inspiring keynote, and an ideation workshop. The event also features multiple leaders in the field of social change for networking and funding opportunities for students in the Pioneer Valley.

Team members of Building Better Villages, winner of the 2018 Hult Prize at UMass, with campus organizer Roy Chan (far left) and Tom Moliterno (far right).

• The Hult Prize is an international competition

dedicated to creating social enterprises on college campuses. The international Hult planning team issues a challenge and the winning team from UMass Amherst secures a spot in the regional competition. From the regional competition, students compete to advance to the national competition where they are eligible to win $1 million.

Thomas P. Moliterno Earl Stafford’s generosity also fuels social entrepreneurship through an Isenberg professorship, held by the school’s Earl W. Stafford Professor in Entrepreneurial Studies, Tom Moliterno.

“The professorship provides direct support for my own research on social entrepreneurship, the social entrepreneurship club, and a campus-level round of the international Hult Prize Challenge,” Moliterno remarks. “The professorship is instrumental in our efforts to support social entrepreneurship here on campus.”

Read about the Social Entrepreneurship Club here: facebook.com/SEClub.UMass

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP FACILITATORS

SUPPORTING A STARTUP MINDSET A community of thinkers is essential to innovation and entrepreneurship.

One of the Berthiaume Center’s key initiatives is fostering a cross–campus group of supporters who provide valuable data about what’s happening in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, collaborate to create important synergies, and provide ideas on how the center can assist as many emerging entrepreneurs as possible.

The foundation of this community is our valued faculty. Classes are offered in venture creation, and software, media, social, and corporate entrepreneurship— just to name a few.

Our vision is to scan the campus and uncover the many faculty, staff, and students from a variety of disciplines who are embracing entrepreneurship as they create new customer-driven business ideas that build on their passion, expertise, and market needs.

Cynthia Barstow Isenberg School of Management, Lecturer Research and teaching interests include sustainability, experiential learning, social entrepreneurship, translational science, corporate social responsibility, natural and organic products, alternative healthcare marketing, consumer behavior, societal marketing, and food marketing and merchandising.

Dee Boyle-Clapp College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Director of the Arts Extension Service Leads training programs in a variety of arts management topics for state agencies, teaches Arts Extension Service (AES) arts management degree and certificate programs, and conducts AES research projects; research includes arts entrepreneurship and “green” nonprofits.

Stephen Brand Isenberg School of Management, Lecturer Experience and teaching interests include innovation, new venture creation, stimulating curiosity and creativity, strategy, invention, education, nonprofit nontraditional revenue streams, and business model development.

Eric Crawley College of Engineering, Entrepreneur-inResidence, and Lecturer Experience and teaching interests include networking, mentoring, content distribution, software, security, strategy, management, and execution.

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Charles Johnson Isenberg School of Management, Clinical Associate Professor Managing director and investment committee member of Maroon Venture Partners Fund. Experience includes business law, venture capital, and private equity firms.

B. J. Roche College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Senior Lecturer Research and teaching interests include multimedia reporting, magazine writing, and media entrepreneurship, as well as “The Journalism Launchpad,� a career-prep class for journalism majors.

Bob Lowry Isenberg School of Management, Lecturer Founder and owner of Bueno y Sano, a seven-franchise fresh express Mexican restaurant where community service is a priority; works with local groups and nonprofit organizations in education, entrepreneurship, health and fitness, and the arts.

Betsy Schmidt School of Public Policy, Professor of Practice Research and teaching interests include nonprofit law, nonprofit management, and social enterprise.

Jennifer Merton Isenberg School of Management, Associate Chair, Law Lecturer Coordinator, and Senior Lecturer Research and teaching interests include ethics, business planning and entity formation, corporate governance and sustainability, environmental and constitutional law, and sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

Gregory S. Thomas Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, Executive Director and Lecturer Experience and teaching interests include corporate entrepreneurship, international business management, new product introduction, supply chain planning, innovation, manufacturing, business scaling, strategy development and execution, and financial acumen.

Bogdan Prokopovych Isenberg School of Management, Lecturer Research and teaching interests include strategic management, social entrepreneurship, international business, and integrating sustainability into undergraduate and MBA curricula.

Neena Thota College of Information and Computer Sciences, Faculty Research and teaching interests include how novice students learn introductory object-oriented programming, intercultural interactions among computer science students, development of professional competencies in higher education in computing and engineering, teaching computing at schools, and computing teacher education.

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES

CONNECTING RESEARCHERS AND RESOURCES

The Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) is a pan-campus organization whose objectives are to become a catalyst and resource for ‘applied’ and ‘translational’ life science and technology R&D activities, to further industry engagement and collaborations, to contribute to workforce development, and to participate in growing an innovation and entrepreneurship culture on this campus.

T

o achieve this vision, deep and interdisciplinary expertise of more than 250 faculty-led research groups from seven colleges and 29 departments on the UMass Amherst campus is combined with the diverse capabilities of industry and government partners. The partnerships fostered by IALS support academic innovation focused on delivering high unmet-need product candidates.

IALS is organized into three large centers: The Center for Personalized Health Monitoring addresses real-world problems in the emerging field of digital healthcare, wearable sensor technologies, and personalized, precision healthcare delivery, interfacing closely with provider networks, hospitals, and industry across the commonwealth and the world.

The Center for Bioactive Delivery develops novel drug delivery platforms for next-generation nutraceuticals, small-molecule and bio-molecule therapeutics to facilitate “the right drug to the right place.”

The Models to Medicine Center discovers novel disease-related cellular pathways, drug targets, and therapeutic candidates. These targets/candidates represent next generation therapeutics in disease areas of high unmet need.

A significant resource facilitating the IALS objectives is a newly created set of more than 30 Core Facilities, which contain cutting-edge equipment to facilitate a wide range of applied projects from device prototyping, 3-D printing, precision manufacturing, and roll-to-roll fabrication to human motion and gait studies, EEG and sleep studies, human energy metabolism, and brain/ muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All of these Core Facilities are available to industry partners.

10 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

IALS & Isenberg Business Innovation Fellows

The Human Motion Lab, an IALS Core Facility.

In close proximity to these Core Facilities are “Collaboratories”—lab space available to industry partners and UMass startup companies to allow them to work alongside UMass faculty and Core Facilities. An “Industry Sabbatical Program” allows industry researchers to spend time embedded in UMass research laboratories or in the IALS Core Facilities.

IALS works with industry partners to combine the best in academic innovation with an industry-like focus on delivering commercially significant products, services, and technologies over a defined timeline. Resources and facilities are equally accessible to academic, government, and industry collaborators.

By design, IALS is product-focused, interdisciplinary, collaborative, outwardlooking, and entrepreneurial.

IALS Venture Development The IALS Venture Development team helps IALS-affiliated researchers and startup teams with the business processes of translating their research and inventions into product concepts and startup ventures. This business/ entrepreneurship-focused group collaborates with technical founders from IALS laboratories to identify, prioritize, and execute on key venture

development milestones that mark the path from “idea to Series A.” The Venture Development team is made up of the IALS leadership team, IALS & Isenberg Business Innovation Fellows, as well as business and technical experts and mentors, many of them UMass alumni. The team functions as a “Virtual C-Suite” for IALS-related UMass startup companies, and also facilitates access to resources from throughout the campus, regional, state, and national innovation ecosystems.

Founders from IALS-affiliated startups have participated in MassBio’s MassConnect program, BIO 2018 Startup Stadium, ‘Buzz of Bio’, MassChallenge’s Boston and HealthTech accelerators, the AFFOA entrepreneurship program at MIT, the CleanTech Open Northeast summer accelerator, the MATTO Venture Showcase, the UMass Innovation Challenge, and VentureWell’s E-Teams Stage 1 and Aspire programs.

IALS Venture Development operates in close collaboration with other campus organizations—particularly the Isenberg School of Management, the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the UMass Innovation Institute, and the Technology Transfer Office—to contribute to the larger innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem on the UMass Amherst campus.

Find out more about the IALS Core Facilities at www.umass.edu/ials/core-facilities

The IALS & Isenberg Business Innovation Fellows program selects students from the Isenberg School of Management full-time MBA program and from other UMass colleges and schools to become a business-focused resource for IALS-related ventures.

In collaboration with venture founders and entrepreneurs–in– residence, agile teams of fellows work to de-risk and add value to business concepts by identifying early commercialization opportunities and addressing strategic, operational, marketing, financing, and business development challenges.

The program was created in 2016 by then-Dean of Isenberg Mark Fuller and Founding Director of IALS Peter Reinhart. Since 2018, the IALS & Isenberg Business Innovation Fellows have engaged with more than 20 applied research and technology startup teams. The fellows are particularly proud to have helped secure funding for a number of companies from NIH (SBIR), VentureWell, and the UMass Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures (OTCV).

By working through real-world startup issues, fellows gain valuable experiences that prepare them for leadership positions in the innovation economy. Fellows have accepted internships and full-time employment offers at MassMutual, ThermoFisher, Biogen, Alcyone Life Sciences, System One, VentureWell, and the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

The program has been game-changing for both founders and fellows: Michael E. Hickey, PhD student in food science and founder of smartphone appbased bacterial detection company Bactrac

IALS Fellows have been the guardians “ofThe our startup, offering the personalized advice and regular communication that has supplied our team a vital peace of mind.

The precision of their advice has erased the unnecessary doubt that weighed down the earliest stages of our venture by relieving the distractions of our inexperience and helping motivate us to establish reachable, impactful objectives.

”

Lauren Rothermich, first-year Isenberg MBA student and IALS & Isenberg Business Innovation Fellow

IALS experience has opened my eyes “toThe the startup and entrepreneurial world, so much so that I have reconsidered my career path. I’ve become highly interested in the startup space and helping these businesses achieve their goals. The startups here have some truly innovative technology that has the potential to solve complex problems. It’s been great to see how the fellows help them grow.

”

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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COLLEGE OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCES

DATA SCIENCE IN THE REAL WORLD For the past decade, the College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) has been in a period of rapid growth and transformation. In 2012, the Computer Science Department was upgraded to a school within the College of Natural Sciences, and in 2015 it was established as an independent college.

Also in 2015, the university established the Center for Data Science (CDS) within its newly created college, with a charter to lead the campus in promoting data science education, research, and industry connections. The CDS’s founding director is Distinguished Professor Andrew McCallum, an internationally recognized leader in the fields of machine learning, information extraction, and social network analysis.

The cutting-edge instruction and research promised by these new programs meant more students and faculty would be developing projects with potential real-world applications. But something was missing: Both the college and the center lacked support systems for helping faculty and students turn their initiatives and innovations into new companies. This was a particular concern for CDS, since data science was widely viewed as a powerful engine of economic development, whose potential the center ought to be nurturing.

The Ventures@CICS program is designed to fill that knowledge gap. Our EIRs, many of whom are serial entrepreneurs, help students sharpen their thinking and decide how to move forward, often connecting students with the growing western Mass innovation community. —CICS Dean Laura Haas

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In 2016, the center’s executive director, Brant Cheikes, was approached by a computer science alumnus and serial entrepreneur, Steve Willis, who offered to become the college’s first “entrepreneurin-residence” (EIR) on an informal basis. Initially, Willis connected with and began mentoring CICS graduate student Shiri Dori-Hacohen to launch AuCoDe, a venture based on her doctoral research on identifying controversies trending online (see page 26). Over the next year, Willis continued scouting talent and mentoring potential faculty and student entrepreneurs. It became clear that the college could benefit from having a team of EIRs, especially if it granted them status as a formally supported CICS program.

Soon after her arrival in 2017 as the college’s new dean, Laura Haas saw the same need to foster entrepreneurship and innovation within the college. She and Cheikes formalized the Ventures@CICS program and recruited a slate of volunteer EIRs, including venture capitalist (and alumna) Esha Sahai, local businessman Jim Flynn, and former Bitcoin chief scientist Gavin Andresen.

“We found that many students have the seeds of amazing ideas for new products or companies, but don’t know how to take that first step toward turning their ideas into a commercial venture,” says Dean Haas. “The Ventures@CICS program is designed to fill that knowledge gap. Our EIRs, many of whom are serial entrepreneurs, help students sharpen their thinking and decide how to move forward, often connecting students with the growing western Mass innovation community.”

The college’s vision, “Computing for the Common Good,” finds expression through efforts to move computer science research into the public sphere, and has attracted impressive levels of support. In 2016, MassMutual announced a $15 million donation to CICS to strengthen its data science and cybersecurity programs in order to promote economic development in the Pioneer Valley. That was soon followed by a $5 million grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a public agency formed to enhance economic development by strengthening collaborations across academia, industry, and government.

This summer, the CDS is expanding an initiative called Data Science for the Common Good, which will support the college’s graduate students in working with local nonprofits and government agencies throughout the Pioneer Valley to help them harness and use data to improve their businesses.

“Students are frequently attracted to data science because the field offers opportunities to effect positive change in the world, but most think that this is something that happens after they get their degrees,” says Haas. “Programs like Data Science for the Common Good and other CICS outreach efforts allow students to use what they’re learning in class to improve the lives of people in their communities.”

Above, CICS students.

Dean Laura Haas (third from left) with CICS students.

Interested in the CICS entrepreneur-in-residence program? Learn more at cics.umass.edu/ventures; find the Center for Data Science at ds.cs.umass.edu

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INNOVATION CHALLENGE

Martin Mangram ’19, pitching to Innovation Challenge judges.

NEW VENTURES COMPETE FOR REAL FUNDING Through the UMass Amherst Innovation Challenge, students can get ideas out of their heads, into a slide deck, and into a pitch. The signature entrepreneurship competition of the UMass Amherst campus has awarded more than $750,000 to 75-plus student-led teams over the last decade.

The four-part cross-campus pitch competition was started in 2005 by Vice Chancellor Michael Malone and the late Soren Bisgaard, who was Eugene M. Isenberg Professor in Integrative Studies, and it’s now hosted by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship.

Interdisciplinary teams develop a product with regard to its customer focus, scientific and technological design, and quality of a compelling business strategy for its commercialization. Through this process, students of all levels, faculty from a variety of academic disciplines, and graduates of the last decade (known as “GOLD”) are encouraged to develop and foster their grit and curiosity.

The four stages of the Innovation Challenge are a mechanism for providing two critical elements to the student entrepreneurial process: constructive feedback and positive recognition.

Are you launching a startup, or would you like to support new ventures?

Learn how to get involved or contribute at isenberg.umass.edu/innovation

14 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The Four Phases of the Innovation Challenge Innovation Challenge pitch ideas can emerge out of a personal problem or passion, a class project, a talk in an entrepreneurship club, a hackathon, a summer inspiration, or a collaboration during one of our cross-discipline Idea Jams.

For entrepreneurs, these competitions stimulate thinking, give benchmarks for testing ideas, and provide a platform for receiving feedback on their venture development in front of a judging panel of experts. Judges are serial entrepreneurs, legal experts, venture funders, and consultants who also volunteer their time to mentor students throughout the startup process. The judging criteria focuses on five factors: level of innovation and creativity, impact and scalability, feasibility, presentation skills, and passion.

As an engagement and advancement tool, the competition showcases the talents of our students, faculty, staff, and GOLD alumni. Additionally, the funding for the equity-free prize money and professionally staged events comes from pan-campus philanthropic support.

Prior to the competitions, innovators are coached by the Berthiaume Center team, industry experts, and their peers to refine a business strategy, get a deeper value proposition around who they are targeting and what problem they are solving for their future customers, and tell their story in a compelling way. These interactions allow the Berthiaume Center staff to develop a relationship with the entrepreneurs, thereby catching them in our “net.”

Minute Pitch (FALL)

P HASE

1

STAKES ARE HIGHER, PRESENTATIONS ARE LONGER, PRIZES ARE BIGGER. CLOSED BOARDROOM SESSIONS WITH JUDGES REVIEWING UP TO 15 PRESENTATIONS, WITH Q&A.

60-SECOND PITCHES—NO SLIDES OR BUSINESS MODELS—MADE IN FRONT OF LARGE AUDIENCES. MENTORS PROVIDE FEEDBACK AFTER EACH PRESENTATION.

$2,500

$15,000 AWARDED AT THE DISCRETION

2

OF THE JUDGES.

P HASE

DISTRIBUTED TO THREE TEAMS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE JUDGES, AND AN AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD.

Seed Pitch (FALL)

Semi– final

P HASE

3

(WINTER)

2018-19 INNOVATION CHALLENGE WINNERS The Minute Pitch:

The Final:

Find A Missing Kid, $1,000 Grace Hall ’21 (CICS), Arta Razavi ’18 (CICS), and Cameron Harvey ’21 (electrical engineering)

Let’s Talk About It, $25,000 Ashley Olafsen ’18 (BDIC) and Tom Leary ’19 (LARP)

Let’s Talk About It, $750 Ashley Olafsen ’18 (BDIC) and Tom Leary ’19 (LARP) Digital Mapping Consultants, $750 Devin Clark ‘17G (geography) The Seed Pitch:

PUBLIC EVENT FEATURING PRESENTATIONS, Q&A, AND JUDGING ANNOUNCEMENTS IN FRONT OF A LARGE AUDIENCE.

P HASE

MORE THAN A DOZEN TEAMS COMPETE FOR FIVE TO SEVEN SPOTS IN THE FINAL. CLOSEDDOOR SESSIONS WITH JUDGES, INCLUDING Q&A.

4

$65,000

AWARDED AT THE DISCRETION OF THE JUDGES.

Final

(SPRING)

2018-19 INNOVATION CHALLENGE SPONSORS EY The Heiser Family Norman “Bud” Robertson

Kumar Ganapathy Jeff Glassman, Darn It! John & Sally Burke

PeoplesBank Joe Suyemoto Brian Palmer

TempGrams, $7,000 Amadeus Ahnan and Mitchell Culler (PhD candidates, food science) BACTRAC, $4,000 Michael Hickey (PhD candidate, food science) and Alex Mills ’17 (master’s candidate, food science) Deadeye Sports, $2,000 Jake Lisauskas ’19 (accounting/sport management), Matt Madden (Springfield College, sport management), Daniel Lannan (RPI, electrical engineering) Catalina Mixies, $2,000 Ethan Lazar ’19 (economics) and Matthew Kaplan ’19 (sport management)

Renovare, $21,000 George Ryan ’21 (chemistry, economics), Yizhuo Chen ’20 (chemical engineering), Kevin Cutinella ’21 (management), Avi Benmayor ’22 (preengineering) Microbial Identifier: iSPY, $8,500 Anna Maria Miller ’22, (microbiology and informatics), Jeng-Yu Chou ’22 (computer science), Hayley Green ’22 (microbiology) Organicin Scientific, $8,500 Griffin O’Driscoll ’19, Mathew Mitchell ’20, and Joshua Mallon ’19 (biochemistry), and Thomas White ’20 (finance) Driving My ADHD, $1,000 Melissa Paciulli ’09G, ’19PhD (civil engineering), Birdie Champ ’10G, ’17EdD Deadeye Sports, $1,000 Jake Lisauskas ’19 (accounting/sport management), Matt Madden (Springfield College, sport management), Daniel Lannan (RPI, electrical engineering)

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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INNOVATION CHALLENGE WINNER

Ashley Olafsen Creates

Wellness Workshops for Schools

Commonwealth native’s startup wins top honors—and serious funding— with a video series targeting teenage angst.

A

shley Olafsen ’18 (BDIC) had her post-graduation plans laid out before her December commencement. She wants to be the Bill Nye of wellness and social-emotional learning curricula for middle and high school students. With two books published, two companies formed, and equity-free funding in hand from winning this year’s Innovation Challenge, she’s well on her way.

Her entrepreneurial spirit was ignited when she realized in her sophomore year of high school in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, that she was not alone in struggling with feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. “I felt like I wasn’t good enough in a lot of different ways, especially not pretty enough. And I felt consumed by negative emotions,” she recalls.

In 2013, Olafsen, along with her Hopkinton classmate Lexie Phipps and a

16 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

group of friends, decided to produce a workshop for eighth graders in the hope of helping younger girls develop confidence, strong self-esteem, and positive body images. After five months of working with guidance counselors and administrators on content, the workshop was offered to 30 girls.

That’s when her company, MOVE, was born, developing into a series of workshops on self-esteem, body image, mental health, and relationships for middle and high school-aged girls. “That was how I stumbled into entrepreneurship,” she says. Olafsen and the MOVE team have given more than 70 in-person workshops.

Olafsen didn’t slow down during her time in Amherst, taking advantage of many campus opportunities. She designed her own major, Empowerment through Education, in the BDIC program, with political science as her second major.

Ashley Olafsen and Tom Leary receiving top honors at the 2018-2019 Innovation Challenge.

In addition to being a UMass campus tour guide, she published two books, Survival of the Prettiest and Life Hacks with ASH, in August 2016 and July 2017, respectively. Olafsen describes the first as a survival guide for middle and high school girls. The second is a reflection on her entrepreneurial journey.

Olafsen enlisted the support of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, whose mentors and experts helped launch her newest venture, a video series called “Let’s Talk About It: The Workshop Series for Students.” Through the UMass Entrepreneurship Club, she met Tom Leary, who helped her record the 10-part, 90-minute interactive video series, which is aimed at a mixed-gender audience of seventh to tenth graders. Leary is now a business partner. The videos are designed to motivate teens to speak up, especially in asking for mental health services.

With “Let’s Talk About It” now in use in 13 schools in Massachusetts, New York, and California, Olafsen and Leary were the big prize winners at the final stage of the Innovation Challenge in April, earning $25,000 in equity-free funding.

As part of their pitch, they explained their need to cover vendor fees and travel expenses for education conferences and data acquisition. “Tom and I were both really moved to be named the top prize,” Olafsen says.

“We are so excited to use the funding We give teens the to help more students and truly make vocabulary and courage to a difference in fighting stigma.” tell their parents, mentors, The duo’s work has also garnered accolades from the Grinspoon or an adult they trust.

Entrepreneurship Initiative ($500) and Smith College’s Draper —Ashley Olafsen Competition ($1,000).

Whatever the reason to seek help from a professional, says Olafsen, “We give teens the vocabulary and courage to tell their parents, mentors, or an adult they trust.”

SELF-MADE MAJORS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP For students who come to UMass Amherst with a vision for a specific career and discipline, the journey is somewhat clear: Taking required courses amidst a selection of electives can develop new ways of thinking with content that caters to personal or professional interests.

But for those who come to campus without a prescribed learning vision, two options exist that allow them to craft a major from thousands of courses and determine their own journey in preparation for an entrepreneurial future: Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration and University Without Walls.

Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC) is an interdisciplinary academic program with the core mission of allowing undergraduates the opportunity to design an individualized portfolio of courses that allows them to thrive and drive their passion. Of the 400-plus students in the program, many build a major with a focus on specific areas of entrepreneurship, from social and educational to fashion and sports Securing credits for previous life experience is where University Without Walls (UWW) enters the picture. UWW students can chart their own course, literally, and create a major that brings together their existing professional and academic background with a portfolio of online and on-campus learning experiences to complete their undergraduate education. Similarly, many of these students craft an entrepreneurship major to satisfy their personal career vision. Their own ingenuity, while utilizing the vast educational resources at UMass Amherst and through the Five College Consortium, can make professional goals become a reality.

BDIC: umass.edu/bdic UWW: umass.edu/uww

Learn more about Olafsen’s work at www.ashleyolafsen.com

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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COLLEGIATE SUMMER VENTURE PROGRAM

Networking among venture founders.

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY, PROTOTYPES, AND PITCHING

T

he Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship launched an intensive 10-week program in 2017 that serves as a boot camp for entrepreneurs. Funded through the generous support of Earl W. Stafford ’76, the program gives entrepreneurs access to the various resources of the University of Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley without the distractions of the school year.

New in 2019, UMass is joining its program with a summer collegiate accelerator offered by local nonprofit Valley Venture Mentors (VVM), which supports entrepreneurs in western Massachusetts. In the combined program, ventures from the 14 schools and colleges from the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative (see page 3) will work with and inspire each other, allowing participants to collaborate with a more dynamic community and form a more diverse collection of disciplines.

Teams will enter the program at different levels: Some have an idea at the early stages, and others already have revenue. Each works with mentors—a brain trust of campus’s faculty and staff, VVM’s network of supporters, and many local industry experts and business leaders

18 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

who are part of the Pioneer Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem—to determine what type of progress they’ll make during the summer, establishing benchmarks and targets and meeting weekly with their mentors to track their progress.

Most days will be spent defining who their customers are. Teams build their company visions, refining their thinking and pivoting when the data suggest they are going in the wrong direction. Teams create prototypes, working with the maker space community on campus.

Practicing pitches over and over again, they learn what makes a strong presentation and how to look at their venture through the eyes of investors and potential partners. As they celebrate their successes and confront their obstacles together, teams become a community of entrepreneurs.

Participants will spend time in Springfield doing customer discovery and meeting with entrepreneurs in the Valley, as well as visiting the VVM co-working space, a valuable resource in the community available year-round where they can meet and get to know some of the upcoming ventures that call VVM’s space home.

VVM STARTUPS

Valley Venture Mentors The Berthiaume Center’s partner in producing the 2019 Collegiate Summer Venture Program is Springfield-based nonprofit Valley Venture Mentors (VVM).

Since its inception in 2011, the organization, which helps entrepreneurs turn their ideas into thriving, scalable businesses, has become the center of a community of entrepreneurial thinkers: small-business owners using its co-working space, experienced advisors mentoring startup founders, and people with ideas trying to figure out what steps to take next.

At VVM’s lively monthly mentorship meetings, volunteers help startup founders with their pitching skills and discuss solutions to their business problems. The connections

$32 MILLION Earned in total revenue

$28 MILLION Raised in outside funding VVM mentoring for startups.

made at meetings create vital social capital among entrepreneurs, helping to make western Massachusetts a destination for startups.

Traditionally held in the spring, VVM also runs a large startup accelerator for early-stage companies with high-growth potential, guided by executivesin-residence who offer mentoring and advice, along with the potential to win cash awards. The program has been acknowledged by the Global Accelerator Network alongside organizations such as the Microsoft Accelerator, TechStars, and Playlabs@MIT. valleyventurementors.org

Eric Ashman (left) providing feedback to Berthiaume Center startup teams.

A week at the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton is also on the schedule. Route 128, downtown Boston, and Cambridge comprise one of the world’s most vibrant entrepreneurship communities. Happy collisions with many of the players and organizations that are central to the region’s reputation will bolster the programming. Additional outside experts join the program for single-session workshops in their areas of expertise, such as marketing, customer acquisition, legal issues, prototyping, and team development.

The culmination of the program is a showcase in Springfield, where entrepreneurs pitch to and network with a room full of industry experts, business leaders, faculty from around the region, economic development leaders, potential investors, and interested community members.

Berthiaume Center Mentor Network For the 2019 Collegiate Summer Venture Program, the Berthiaume Center is piloting its Mentor Network—a group of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts who have the knowledge and energy to support emerging entrepreneurs. These volunteers will share their experiences to help ventures move forward in their entrepreneurial journey. The Berthiaume Center is working with long-time supporter Eric Ashman ’89 to mobilize and manage the group. Ashman, former president and chief operating officer of Group Nine Media (which includes well-known websites Thrillist, NowThis, TheDodo, and Seeker), focuses on advising startups across Massachusetts and promoting ranked-choice voting and other progressive causes, in addition to spending time in Amherst with current students.

To learn more about the Collegiate Summer Venture Program or the Mentor Network, contact the Berthiaume Center: berthiaume@isenberg.umass.edu

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

19

OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT

NUTS AND BOLTS OF CAMPUS VENTURE DEVELOPMENT The UMass Office of Research and Engagement encompasses two broad areas: research administration and compliance and research development and engagement. Its constituent units work collaboratively to provide faculty and staff with the administrative support, services, and resources necessary to secure research funding and effectively manage grants and contracts and requisite compliance with state and federal laws.

T

he Technology Transfer Office (TTO), within the Office of Research and Engagement, is a faculty-service organization that lends its specialized expertise in “intellectual property”— patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets—to faculty, students, and staff across campus. It helps people recognize when they may have made an invention, evaluate patentability and commercial potential, and file and pursue patent applications. The TTO works with inventors to find companies interested in selling the patented products or to create startup companies for this purpose.

It also provides advice to faculty, students, staff, and university leadership on a wide variety of matters that touch on intellectual property.

One of the TTO’s most valuable functions is seeking patents on inventions that result from UMass Amherst research, and then entering into contracts called “licenses” that give companies the right to make and sell the patented products. The patent rights give companies an incentive to invest money and effort in developing and marketing the new products, because the patents prevent other companies from selling the same products for a period of time. In some cases, the TTO licenses patent rights to already-existing companies, both large and small.

In other cases, the TTO helps faculty, students, and others start new companies to develop such products, using funds from government grant programs and private investors. The startup route is sometimes the only avenue for commercializing highly advanced inventions, because established companies consider them too risky.

In addition, the TTO actively supports the UMass Amherst National Science Foundation I-Corps Site (see page 21). The TTO director, Robert MacWright, is co-principal investigator on the I-Corps Site grant. The TTO licensing professionals serve as coaches for I-Corps Site program participants, and the TTO provides administrative support for the program.

When your venture gets far enough along to present intellectual property issues, here’s where to find out more: umass.edu/tto

Sponsored Activity Research Activity

Proposals Submitted 1,323 Proposal Dollars $610.6 million Awards 1,083 Award Dollars $161.8 million Annual Research Expenditures $210.4 million (FY 2017 most current data)

Distribution of Awarded Dollars by Sponsor Category FY 2018 $161,840,007

Commonwealth of MA 10%

Other State & Local Govts.

1%

Private Sector: Industry 12%

Federal 63%

Private Sector: Nonprofit 14%

Distribution of Award Dollars Accepted from Federal Agencies FY 2018 $102,682,991 DOI 3% DOE 3% SBA 3%

NASA 2% DOEd 1% Other 1%

DOD 10%

NSF 36%

USDA 10% DHHS 31%

Distribution of Award Dollars Accepted from the Private Sector FY 2018 $42,293,040

data linked

Technology Transfer Office

BY THE NUMBERS (FISCAL YEAR 2018)

$706,843 Total revenue

20 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

11

43

New patent applications filed

21 84

Invention disclosures

Patents issued

License and option agreements executed

2 New start-ups formed

Other Health Sponsors Agencies 2% 1% Foundations 9% Institutes & Associations 11% Other Colleges & Universities* 31%

Industry 46%

*A significant portion of these awards are prime Federal Funds

I-CORPS @ UMASS AMHERST

PRE-MONEY STAGE

Development Stages

Trisha Andrew, Chemistry Conductive cloth for heated garments, made using vapor deposition at high pressures. Thin and flexible, low power consumption.

(AS OF APRIL 23, 2019)

EARLY STAGE

UMass Amherst was selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in October 2018 to be part of its national network of Innovation Corps Sites (I-Corps). The new I-Corps @ UMass Amherst site was established with funding from the NSF and the campus with the goals of increasing research commercialization and startups while enhancing infrastructure that can boost innovation. Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement Michael Malone notes, “The I-Corps Sites program is a foundational element in the NSF’s effort to facilitate creation of technology-driven, research-based startups.

Having a site on campus will enhance our innovation ecosystem and enhance our efforts to translate research into impactful ventures and prepare STEM students for work in the innovation economy.”

The first training program began in January 2019—I-Corps participants (who are faculty and student researchers) learn how to interview potential customers and others to find out what they need and test whether their technology might fit with those needs. The program is based on the Lean LaunchPad approach and emphasizes best practices for conducting and analyzing interviews for meaningful results.

Sperm Capacitation Technologies, Inc.

Pablo Visconti and Ana-Maria Salicioni, Veterinary and Animal Sciences Kit for increasing the fertilization rate and embryo quality achieved in artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.

Kexo Therapeutics

Jeanne Hardy, Chemistry Novel caspase inhibitor compounds for treating Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.

RECENTLY FUNDED

Renovare

Yubing Sun, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and Yizhou “E.J.” Chen Device that mechanically stimulates skin cells, causing faster generation of new healthy skin cells.

Pre-Launch

Providing state-of-the-art training for researchers looking to turn their work into products.

Soliyarn, LLC

Aclarity, LLC

Dave Reckhow and Julie Bliss Mullen, Civil and Environmental Engineering Point-of-use water purification device that uses a small electric current to generate chlorine and peroxide, avoiding need for expensive cartridges.

PLANNING STAGE

Ernest Pharmaceuticals

e-Biologics, LLC

Driving My ADHD

Melissa Paciulli, Civil Engineering Game and training platform to teach distracted teens to watch out for potential hazards.

Nele Van Dessel and Neil Forbes, Chemical Engineering Novel gene construct that causes salmonella bacteria to burst inside target cells allowing use as a drug delivery vehicle to target cancer cells.

Launched

Derek Lovley, Microbiology; Jun Yao, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Alex Smith, Mechanical Engineering Protein nanowire-based sensors, envisioned either as a wearable patch that detects biomarkers in sweat or an implantable sensor.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STAGE

Cyta Therapeutics Inc.

“Thai” Thayumanavan, Chemistry Nanogel drug delivery system which entrains a drug of choice inside, antibodies on the outside that target the gel to a desired tissue, and the drug is released upon entering the target tissue cells.

Goals for the program include:

Treaty, LLC

• Introducing the lean startup approach to

Ken Carter, Polymer Science and Engineering Anti-fog spray “FogKicker,” current market is for scuba diving and snorkeling. Medical endoscopes also a target market.

100+ UMass researchers over three years

• Helping participants discover who might

Felsuma

Award Dollars Three-Year Rolling Averages FY 2009–2018 150 153

146

153

167

180

174

be customers for products based on their research and why

Al Crosby, Polymer Science and Engineering; Duncan Irschick, Biology; Rana Gupta Geckskin is a polymer-coated layer that adheres to even rough surfaces and drywall; easily removable and releasable.

• Expanding the participation of women

and underrepresented minorities in innovation and entrepreneurship efforts on campus and beyond

SELLING PRODUCT

166

• Providing a program that enhances the

professional development of participants in the university, industry, and startup environments

FY 2016 –2018

FY 2015–2017

FY 2014 –2016

FY 2013 –2015

FY 2012 –2014

FY 2011 –2013

FY 2010 –2012

Millions of dollars

FY 2009 –2011

Lumme, Inc.

Deepak Ganesan, College of Information and Computer Sciences Wristband-based detector that can discriminate between smoking, eating, and other hand-mouth gestures; detection can signal behavior intervention alarms.

• Supporting participants in their future technology commercialization efforts

• Participating in and contributing to the

Genoverde Biosciences, Inc.

Sam Hazen and Michael Harrington, Biology Genetically engineered trees that yield more paper pulp, higher density lumber.

National Science Foundation’s National Innovation Network

umass.edu/icorps

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

21

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FUELS REAL INNOVATION Internationally recognized faculty and students do outstanding research in the life, environmental, computational, and physical sciences.

In the College of Natural Sciences (CNS), some of the world’s leading scientific minds perform research that can change the world. CNS is the largest recipient of grant funding on campus, and its postdoctoral researchers and graduate and undergraduate students actively engage with faculty and contribute to a wide range of relevant and interdisciplinary research.

Bridge and Seed Funding Program CNS celebrates the scholarly excellence of its faculty and seeks to support their potential to innovate and to continue to lead their disciplines through new investment. The Bridge and Seed Funding Program (BSF) provides timely funding for CNS faculty: • who are seeking the renewal of sponsored research projects and are recently in a funding gap; • seeking funding to launch initial research directed in a particularly promising new area with strong funding potential; and • seeking funding to expand basic research toward a translational application to access new funding mechanisms.

Faculty apply for this program by submitting a proposal that articulates the financial need, provides a compelling plan for carrying out the research successfully, and identifies a clear pathway for securing external funding in the near term. Funding for the BSF is provided in part through a gift from a CNS alumnus. cns.umass.edu/BSF

22 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

S. “Thai” Thayumanavan, winner of the 2019 Mahoney Prize.

John Solem

The Mahoney Life Sciences Prize

CNS faculty and students in the lab.

Center for UMass/Industry Research on Polymers Established in 1980, the Center for UMass/Industry Research on Polymers (CUMIRP) is the longest running of a group of Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers established by the National Science Foundation to enable research that can drive innovation in the U.S. economy but that’s not well-developed enough to support itself commercially. By holding frequent events and workshops, CUMIRP provides a crossroads where university research and education faculty meet with industry and government partners to identify shared interests in polymer materials, engineering, and processing at UMass Amherst to leverage resources and foster partnerships that lead to lasting value collaborations. CUMIRP has a multi-part structure that offers flexibility to participating members in tailoring their research programs and objectives. The customized approach allows sponsors to meet the challenges of integrating cutting-edge science and technology transfer in a fastpaced business world.

This annual competition, which was made possible through the generosity of the Mahoney family, includes an award of $10,000 and is awarded to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in life sciences research, and whose work significantly advances connections between academic research and industry. The inaugural 2018 Mahoney Prize recipient was Professor Jeanne Hardy, who has been working for more than a decade to understand an important protein involved in Alzheimer's disease, called caspase-6. Recently, Hardy made important discoveries that may significantly advance our ability to treat this increasingly prevalent disease. This year, Professor of Chemistry Sankaran “Thai” Thayumanavan received the Mahoney Prize in recognition of his new biomedical strategy for tackling “undruggable” therapeutic targets. His work opens possibilities for treatment of many human diseases previously considered incurable.

Do you have research to submit for the Mahoney Life Sciences Prize? Learn more: cns.umass.edu/research/mahoney-life-sciences-prize

umass.edu/cumirp

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

23

BEYOND UMASS

UMass Amherst Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Alumni Ventures Win SBIR Grants “When we started this push a decade ago, SBIR grants were practically nonexistent in western Massachusetts,” says Jim Capistran, recently retired director of the UMass Innovation Institute. “There were maybe one or two at best, so now having half a dozen—and hopefully more soon—is a big improvement.”

The increased visibility of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program in western Massachusetts is one of the clearest signs of the push to support campus scientists and engineers in moving their ideas from academia into the realm of active small businesses: Five startup companies based on ideas and technology developed on campus are currently receiving SBIR grants from federal agencies; plus, five existing companies are partnering with or subcontracting to UMass scientists and engineers to work on projects funded by SBIR grants.

The SBIR program, which started in 1982, ensures that federal agencies with big research and development budgets spend a little more than three percent of that money on entrepreneurial ventures, helping innovators conduct the important—but also expensive—R&D efforts that are necessary to bring new technologies to market.

24 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

These grants have given us credibility. We were vetted by the federal government in the process, and that has increased interest from potential investors, too.

—Nele Van Dessel, cofounder of Ernest Pharmaceuticals

John Solem

Nele Van Dessel

SBIR Grants Can Be Game Changers “We are 100 percent funded by the SBIR grants,” says Nele Van Dessel, a cofounder of Ernest Pharmaceuticals with Professor Neil Forbes, whose lab she worked in as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering until fall 2018. The startup is working on novel methods for delivering drugs to cancer cells via bacteria. Ernest received two SBIR grants in 2018—one from the National Institutes of Health and another from the National Science Foundation— totaling $450,000. “These grants have given us credibility,” Van Dessel says. “We were vetted by the federal government in the process, and that has increased interest from potential investors, too.”

On top of the operating funds and the credibility SBIR grants confer, they’re also desirable for startups as an alternative to seeking equity investors.

“SBIR grants are a great way to add value to a company before it’s ready for investors,” says Karen Utgoff, UMass Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) Venture Development director and site director for the campus’s National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Site (I-Corps @ UMass). “They are especially valuable because founders don’t give up any ownership in the company to receive the funds and because the rigorous review process adds credibility.”

Capistran agrees: “An SBIR grant is free money. It’s not a loan. You don’t have to pay the government back.” Typically, he adds, startups and small companies—which must have fewer than 500 employees and be based in the U.S. to qualify—begin with a six-month award in the first phase, and then reapply for a larger (Phase II) award, which is usually around $700,000, but can be higher.

UMass Innovation Institute The Innovation Institute (UMII) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst serves as the campus portal for industry and is designed to increase opportunities for research support and to efficiently and effectively move research outcomes from campus laboratories into society.

The goal of UMII is to have an impact on regional and national economic growth by ensuring that knowledge and technology developed at UMass Amherst is rapidly and broadly disseminated to advance the nation’s social and economic interests. umii.umass.edu

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

25

John Solem

UMass Amherst Projects Focus on SBIR Digital therapeutics startup Lumme led the wave of UMassaffiliated SBIR grantees by winning $1.5 million in 2015 from the National Cancer Institute.

“The money has enabled and funded the development and clinical validation of our smoking cessation platform,” says Akshaya Shanmugam ’12G, ’16PhD, the company’s cofounder and CEO. Lumme grew from preliminary algorithms developed in the UMass computer science program with Abhinav Parate ’10G, ’14PhD, now Lumme’s chief technology officer, and Professor Deepak Ganesan. Its commercial goals are to enable people to kick addictions by analyzing their smoking or drinking behavior based on their hand gestures, which are detected by a smart watch. The app then can predict when they’re likely to engage in that behavior and intervene by cognitive behavioral therapy in the form of notifications.

In recent clinical trials, Lumme’s app could tell when a person was smoking with better than 95 percent accuracy, and it could predict a cigarette craving in subjects six minutes before it happened.

For AuCoDe, another small business that grew out of the UMass computer science program, a $225,000 National Science Foundation SBIR grant has been integral to moving forward. “The grant is allowing us to validate the technological feasibility of our value proposition,” says Shiri Dori-Hacohen, AuCoDe’s founder and a 2017 PhD graduate of the College of Information and Computer Sciences. Her doctoral research focused on algorithms that allow identification and understanding of controversial online topics. Her venture won the 2016 Innovation Challenge—a competition hosted by the Berthiaume Center to help UMass students develop great business ideas—and uses machine learning that can detect controversies and turn them into actionable insights in the stock market in real time.

Genoverde, a company founded by UMass plant geneticist Samuel Hazen and former postdoctoral research associate Michael Harrington, is using its $748,000 SBIR grant to develop a more efficient way to genetically engineer pine tree varieties with higher wood density, allowing a commercialscale production program that will help meet increasing global demand for sustainable wood products.

Julie Bliss Mullen, a PhD candidate in environmental engineering at UMass, says the $225,000 her startup, Aclarity, received from its National Science Foundation SBIR grant last year made it a real business for herself and her partner: “The SBIR has allowed both of us to join the team full time with salaries and has been the driving support behind our product development.”

26 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

John Solem

Tapping Into Benefits of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Lumme’s Akshaya Shanmugam and Abhinav Parate.

Mullen developed the technology behind Aclarity, which uses electricity to purify water, during her doctoral research, but she took full advantage of programs elsewhere on campus meant to help in the process of turning ideas into businesses.

She filed a patent with the university’s Technology Transfer Office and consulted in the early stages with the College of Engineering’s entrepreneur-in-residence, Eric Crawley, as well as with IALS’s Karen Utgoff.

Mullen met Aclarity’s cofounder, Barrett Mully, in 2017, when she took an entrepreneurship course at the Isenberg School of Management, where Mully was a full-time MBA student. They joined forces to compete in, and win, that year’s Innovation Challenge, and then participated in the Berthiaume Center Summer Accelerator, where they were matched with helpful mentors.

That’s the kind of cross-campus success story UMass has been working toward. “We started putting much more emphasis on startups because it became clear that almost all the growth in employment was in small and midsize companies,” Capistran says. “We really want to try to help students and faculty do what it takes to start new businesses.”

The benefits of SBIR recipients go both ways, Capistran of the UMass Innovation Insitute says, describing the campus’s core facilities—many of which are based in IALS—that entrepreneurs can access inexpensively, bringing some of the federal money back to campus (see page 10). “Aclarity, for example, can use SBIR funds at the water testing center, down behind the Mullins Center,” he says. “We have 3-D printing, electron microscopy, and other core research facilities on campus—equipment that many small businesses would have a really hard time accessing otherwise.”

IALS’s Karen Utgoff points out that SBIR money also brings jobs to western Massachusetts, particularly through hiring of interns.

Plus, SBIR recipients support work on campus when UMass community members are hired as subcontractors for small businesses with the grants. Vince Rotello, a UMass chemistry professor, is working with an existing biomedical company called Vuronyx, which approached him to develop a sensor system paid for by SBIR money. “It provided an excellent opportunity to translate our basic science to the real world,” he says.

Aclarity’s Barrett Mully and Julie Bliss Mullen.

Steve Eyles, director of the Mass Spectrometry Core at IALS, is working with a company called NovaSterilis as an SBIR subcontractor, developing methods for sterilization of biotherapeutics using supercritical fluid techniques.

Mechanical Engineering Professor David Schmidt works with a company called Energy Research Consultants on SBIR grant work funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

And FTL Labs Corporation, which is located in Amherst and focuses on bringing technological developments from academia into the marketplace, has subcontracted several SBIR grant projects to the UMass community.

Campus startups agree that although navigating the SBIR grant process can be complicated, people who know how to access the university’s resources can make a big difference.

Ernest Pharmaceuticals’ Van Dessel calls many of the people who helped her with the startup process essential.

“They have helped us revise grants, set up new mechanisms for companies to access equipment, and use core facilities and the IALS vouchers, as well as helping us with conflict-of-interest management and figuring out how to merge UMass administration with the needs of business,” she says. “We have really benefited from the increased push to start companies at UMass.”

Learn more about the ventures: Aclarity (aclaritywater.com), AuCoDe (controversies.info), Ernest Pharmaceuticals (ernestpharma.com), Genoverde (genoverde.com), Lumme (lumme-labs.com)

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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MASSACHUSETTS SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER

KEEPING JOBS AND REVENUE IN THE COMMONWEALTH Nurturing and supporting the companies that make Massachusetts hum.

W

hen Gary Bogoff decided to take his beer brewing hobby professional by launching Berkshire Brewing Company (BBC) in Deerfield in 1994, he knew he needed advice. Through a network of local business assistance groups, including the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and the Franklin County Community Development Corporation, he found his way to the Western Regional Office of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC), which helped him apply for a small business loan so he could buy the Deerfield building where the brewery is located.

“We started off planning to be a draftonly brewery,” Bogoff says. “That was short-lived, so we ended up developing our own bottling system, because we hadn’t made provisions for bottling equipment—we actually had a series of volunteers who came in for the better part of 10 years to help.”

As the brewery’s output grew, they started trucking it to a canning facility, but to streamline the process, Bogoff knew he was going to need to buy his own canning equipment. Again, he reached out to the MSBDC, this time tapping the Central Regional Office, which advised him on the process of securing a long-term loan with fixed-rate financing through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 loan program. Such loans are available to small companies needing to acquire fixed assets for expansion or modernization.

“It was nice to be able to take our information and data and bounce it off somebody who was completely neutral and could give us the high and low points about what could happen,” says

28 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Bogoff. Since buying the equipment, BBC’s capacity has grown from 3,100 gallons per year to more than 600,000.

BBC has become New England’s premier regional craft brewery.

Helping Established Businesses Expand The MSBDC Western Regional Office subsequently enlisted its business student interns from UMass Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management to help create a marketing plan for BBC. And since 2017, Bogoff has sought advice from Julia Dvorko (an Isenberg MBA alumna), regional program director of the Central and Western Mass MSBDC Massachusetts Export Center, about expanding his markets to France. As of January, BBC had successfully completed two sales to France, and a French partner in western Massachusetts was looking to increase volume.

The Export Center helps Massachusetts companies of any size compete in global markets through training and counseling programs. Another client, medical and security product developer Optim LLC, based in Sturbridge, has seen annual double-digit growth percentages in international sales since it started working with the Export Center in 2015. Center staff helped Optim refine its international marketing plan, manage distributors, and identify and focus on high-impact international trade shows, as well as assisting the company with technical export issues (including documentation,

product classification, and duty and tariff determination).

The MSBDC’s broad reach extends across UMass Amherst and throughout the state. The five regional centers (including the Springfield-based western Massachusetts office) and two statewide specialty offices are all coordinated by the state office, which is located on campus and has been administered by Isenberg since its inception in 1980.

“This in itself is noteworthy,” says MSBDC State Director Georgianna Parkin. “Many state programs across the country have had numerous changes in the lead institution. Our strong partnership with Isenberg has enabled the program to grow from a $300,000 program to more than $6 million annually.”

The MSBDC operates through partnerships with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, UMass Amherst and other educational institutions, as well as private organizations, economic development groups, and local chambers of commerce. The services the organization offers to clients such as BBC include direct advising to help businesses manage cash flow, bolster revenue streams, and increase sales and employment. Plus, the centers organize regular training seminars and events.

“We started off just two guys and a dream,” Gary Bogoff says about BBC. “Now we’re 50 people and in all of New England.”

Could your small business use some guidance and support? Learn more: msbdc.org

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE MSBDC “The program advises more than 5,000 potential entrepreneurs annually from one-onone confidential advising and training to CEO roundtables,” State Director Georgianna Parkin says. Because state revenues are dependent upon sales, income, and employment taxes paid by small businesses, the MSBDC’s work with startup and existing companies allows them to contribute to the economic growth and stability of the commonwealth.

$47 MILLION Amount MSBDC secured in financing for small business clients in FY18

$10.1 MILLION Total tax revenue generated by MSBDC clients ($4.8 million in federal tax revenue and $5.3 million in Massachusetts tax revenue)*

3,484 JOBS MSBDC advisory services contributed to jobs created and retained in Massachusetts*

$70.9 MILLION + Amount that clients secured in federal procurement contracts in FY18 via the Procurement Technical Assistance Center

$203 MILLION John Solem

Export sales that MSBDC contributed to through Massachusetts Export Center Services * Figures based on results of a survey conducted by James

Gary Bogoff in the BBC brewery in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Chrisman on the impact of MSBDC services for clients receiving five or more hours of assistance in 2016.

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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THE COLLEGE OF NATURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESOURCES SCIENCES ACROSS CAMPUS

CONTACTS AND INFORMATION

MASSACHUSETTS SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER

University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003 Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC) 230 Commonwealth Honors College 157 Commonwealth Avenue (413) 545-2504 bdic@bdic.umass.edu umass.edu/bdic

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship Isenberg School of Management Business Innovation Hub N175 121 Presidents Drive (413) 545-9482 berthiaume@isenberg.umass.edu isenberg.umass.edu/bce

COLLEGE OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCES AND CENTER FOR DATA SCIENCE

Collegiate Summer Venture Program & Mentor Network berthiaume@isenberg.umass.edu

Innovation Challenge

isenberg.umass.edu/innovation

Maroon Venture Partners Fund Charles Johnson, Managing Director cjohnson@isenberg.umass.edu maroonventurepartners.com

Clubs: Entrepreneurship Club

umassentreclub@gmail.com isenberg.umass.edu/people/umass-entrepreneurship-club

Social Entrepreneurship Club umass.seclub@gmail.com facebook.com/SEClub.UMass

College of Engineering

Dean’s Office, 125 Marston Hall 130 Natural Resources Road (413) 545-6388 engineering.umass.edu

College of Information and Computer Sciences

140 Governors Drive (413) 545-2744 info@cics.umass.edu cics.umass.edu, cics.umass.edu/ventures

Center for Data Science

Lederle Graduate Research Center, A205 740 N. Pleasant Street Brant Cheikes, Executive Director (413) 545-2561 bcheikes@cs.umass.edu ds.cs.umass.edu

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College of Natural Sciences Dean’s Office, 101 Stockbridge Hall 80 Campus Center Way (413) 545-2766 cns.umass.edu

Mahoney Life Sciences Prize

cns.umass.edu/research/mahoney-life-sciences-prize

Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative hgf.org/programs/entrepreneurship-initiative

I-Corps @ UMass

S485B Life Science Laboratories 240 Thatcher Road Karen Utgoff, Site Director (413) 253-7108 kutgoff@umass.edu umass.edu/tto/icorps

Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) N510 Life Science Laboratories 240 Thatcher Road (413) 545-1710 contactials@umass.edu umass.edu/ials

IALS Venture Development

S485B Life Science Laboratories 240 Thatcher Road Karen Utgoff, Director (413) 253-7108 kutgoff@umass.edu umass.edu/ials/venture-development

IALS Core Facilities

Andrew Vinard, Director avinard@umass.edu

INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES AND I-CORPS @ UMASS

BERTHIAUME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

BERTHIAUME INCUBATOR SPACE

BACHELOR’S DEGREE WITH INDIVIDUAL CONCENTRATION TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICE

MSBDC State Office

Tillson House 23 Tillson Farm Road Georgianna Parkin, State Director (413) 545-6301 gparkin@msbdc.umass.edu msbdc.org

MSBDC Western Regional Office Scibelli Enterprise Center 1 Federal Street, Building 101 Springfield, MA 01105 Samalid Hogan, Regional Director (413) 577-1768 smhogan@msbdc.umass.edu msbdc.org

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement

362 Whitmore Building (413) 545-5270 vcre@umass.edu umass.edu/research/engagement/about/leadership

Technology Transfer Office Mass Venture Center, Suite 201 100 Venture Way Hadley, MA 01035 tto@umass.edu umass.edu/tto

University Without Walls (UWW) (413) 545-1378 umass.edu/uww

Valley Venture Mentors

276 Bridge St Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 337-2887 admin@valleyventurementors.org valleyventurementors.org

UMass Amherst Innovation Institute (UMII) 101 University Drive, Suite C-6 Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 577-8644 umii@umass.edu, umii.umass.edu

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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ENTREPRENEURSHIPRESOURCES ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESOURCESACROSS CAMPUS

Maroon Venture Partners Fund The Maroon Fund was launched in February 2017 and, with strong support from Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and alumnus Paul Manning ’77 of Charlottesville, Virginia, raised $5.9 million for investment in UMass Amherstlinked early stage companies. The fund has received about 60 funding inquiries since its launch and, to date, has made preferred stock investments in snack company 88 Acres, fan engagement platform Set the Set, and online yoga studio Ompractice.

Founded by UMass Amherst graduate Nicole Ledoux ’01 and her husband, Rob Dalton, 88 Acres is based in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and offers healthy, seed-based snack bars and spreads. The nut-free products are sold in Whole Foods, Wegmans, Star Market, Market Basket, and other grocer partners, as well as through Amazon.

During the last year, Whole Foods began offering 88 Acres products in its West Coast stores and they’ve become available at Big Y, The Fresh Market, and Harris Teeter in the South. Set the Set—launched by Nate Tepper, a 2014 Isenberg graduate, with a board of music industry insiders—is a back-end provider of web-based fan engagement tools for music acts. Ompractice, founded by UMass Amherst graduate Chris Landry ’95G with Chris Lucas, strives to be the Peloton of yoga, delivering live, interactive online yoga and meditation classes to be taken at home or while traveling.

The Maroon Fund’s investment committee is composed of UMass Amherst alumni Steve Willis, Ameeta Soni, Mike Masterson, and John Brooks, as well as Isenberg professor Charlie Johnson, who also serves as the fund’s managing director. The fund is supported by a student advisory board and UMass Amherst graduates who serve as domain experts.

UMass Libraries As a key partner in teaching, learning, and research at the university and beyond, the UMass Libraries support entrepreneurs with tools and collections designed for startups, inventors, and social innovators.

The Digital Media Lab’s 3D Innovation Center (DML) has seven digitizers and 50 3D printers, which can facilitate cross-discipline collaboration, rapid prototyping, educational models, final products, and more. The Virtual Reality (VR) system at the DML can be used for personal or academic use.

The UMass Amherst Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) librarian and materials are located in the Science & Engineering Library in the Lederle Graduate Research Center (LGRC). PTRC is a nationwide network of public, state, and academic libraries designated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to support the diverse intellectual property needs of the public.

Two databases in the Entrepreneurship Collection, located in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, are available to users: ProQuest Entrepreneurship supports teaching, research, and academic competition for undergraduate and MBA programs, as well as other students or individuals looking to launch new business opportunities. CB Insights provides a real-time listing of U.S. venture capital/private equity deals with the ability to search by keyword for deals, companies, or investors.

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UMass Amherst’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is growing steadily and has become quite complex. We at the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship have developed this report to make the campus more navigable for all the students, potential students, faculty members, neighbors, friends, educators, and financial supporters who want to participate in creating and nurturing new businesses.

This effort embodies the Berthiaume Center’s mission: to connect the right people and catalyze the creation of ventures that bring the university’s bright ideas and hard-core research to the bigger world. If you have a great startup idea or want to support the ventures bubbling up in our community but aren’t sure where to start, give us a call.

Gregory S. Thomas ’91 Executive Director and Lecturer Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship

NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID AMHERST MA PERMIT NO. 2

Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship Isenberg School of Management Business Innovation Hub N175 121 Presidents Drive Amherst, MA 01003 162069

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NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID AMHERST MA PERMIT NO. 2

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