September 9, 2016 | Eli Freund - School of Engineering

UConn Innovation Fund Accepting Applications

The new UConn Innovation fund is accepting applications to provide early-stage financial support to new businesses affiliated with UConn.

Cornucopia, an annual event sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, celebrates a bountiful harvest and the agricultural roots of the University. Photo by Jessica Tommaselli

Matt Cremins adjusts a water machine made by his company Voda. Cremins received seed money to create Voda From UConn's Third Bridge program, one of the on-campus programs that supports startup companies. (Christopher LaRosa/UConn Photo)
Matt Cremins adjusts a water machine made by his company Voda. Cremins received seed money to create Voda From UConn’s Third Bridge program, one of the on-campus programs that supports startup companies. (Christopher LaRosa/UConn Photo)

The new UConn Innovation fund is accepting applications to provide early-stage financial support to new businesses affiliated with UConn. The first deadline for applications is Oct. 14, 2016.

The fund- a partnership between the University of Connecticut, Connecticut Innovations, and Webster Bank- offers up to $100,000 to any student, faculty member or alum of the university with an in-state business startup tied to research, advanced technologies or innovations developed at UConn.  Companies participating in UConn’s Technology Incubator Program are eligible.

UConn faculty and students looking to translate lab discoveries into commercial products and services receive patenting and licensing assistance, business incubator space, financial awards and other support services from the university.

“The Innovation Fund is the latest step in UConn’s ongoing development of innovative businesses stemming from R & D at the university,” School of Engineering Dean Kazem Kazerounian said. “The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Consortium helped lead the way to this agreement, and they do an amazing job promoting university start-ups. I am very proud of their ongoing work.”

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Consortium is run jointly by engineering and business faculty. The consortium provides a number of support activities for new businesses led by faculty and students, including legal and financial guidance, grant programs and market research.

“At UConn we are seeing growing interest across the campus in various forms of entrepreneurship. IQ, I-Corp, TIP, senior design project in engineering, the Wolff Business Plan Competition and more are giving opportunities to entrepreneurial students and faculty,” School of Business Dean John Elliott said. “The Innovation Fund is a natural extension of that interest bringing funding from Webster Bank, Connecticut and UConn together to provide early investment dollars as many of these projects become real companies with significant promise. The School of Business is glad to be actively engaged in many of these initiatives.”

For more information on the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Consortium, visit their website.