HUG Solutions team members Claire Meyer and Evan Kirk demonstrate how thermal testing for the PortaVax device is set up

Vaccine transportation startup wins CU’s New Venture Challenge pitch-slam

April 14, 2021

HUG Solutions, a startup company developing cold chain transportation technology to help rural communities access mRNA vaccines, walked away from the University of Colorado’s New Venture Challenge as champions, banking $30,000 in cash prizes and a $25,000 investment offer.

hug solutions team in idea forge

Students invent device for delivering COVID-19 vaccines to rural areas

April 9, 2021

CU Engineering students have invented PortaVax, a portable vaccine carrier that can keep up to 250 vaccine doses cold for several days using insulation and dry ice. Their device will help solve transporting vaccine doses to rural communities, which often lack reliable electricity or cannot afford ultra-low temperature coolers.

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Six CU Boulder startup teams advance to the New Venture Challenge 14 Championships on April 13

April 9, 2021

Six of CU Boulder's top startups (HUG Solutions, LGBT50, Orbital Biodesign, Sarus, Seedling Biosystems and ToobTek) will vie for their portion of $100,000 in funding at the 13th annual NVC Championships.

nvc 14 specialty prize night winners

$30,000 awarded to CU's top startups at New Venture Challenge Specialty Prize Nights

March 31, 2021

More than 60 out of 110 registered NVC teams chose to participate in one of the three competitions: Impact Prize, NVC Newcomer Prize and Female Founder Prize. The winners represented all corners of campus, ranging from the Leeds School of Business to the College of Music, to freshmen, graduate students, PhDs and faculty.

NatruDerme

CU Boulder spinout TissueForm wins $20,000 at UNC Monfort Entrepreneurial Challenge

March 23, 2021

TissueForm seeks to improve quality-of-life outcomes at lower costs for patients suffering from tissue disease, damage, or aging through stem cell and matrix-based therapies. The company—founded by Jeanne Barthold, PhD, and CU Boulder Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Corey Neu—is no stranger to the pitch competition circuit. TissueForm won $125,000 in Venture Partners' 2018 Lab Venture Challenge and took home multiple awards and more than $20,000 in CU Boulder's New Venture Challenge 11.

man with horse

W.P. Equestrian: A New Spin on Authentic and Inclusive Leadership Development

March 22, 2021

Want to turn your passion turn into a business? Learn how from Michaela Shepherd (MBA'21), the CEO and founder of W.P. Equestrian, a premier equine-facilitated, evidence-based leadership development program that focuses on inclusivity and authenticity.

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Kailey Shara, ATLAS PhD student, takes home top awards from both NVC 14 and New Venture Launch class, winning $11,000

March 22, 2021

Kailey Shara, ATLAS PhD student and a member of the Emergent Nanomaterials Lab, won two top prizes within several days in support of her company, Chembotix, taking home a total of $11,000 in prizes. On March 18, Shara’s team won $5,000 during the New Venture Challenge 14 Female Founder Prize. Then on March 22, Shara’s team won another $6,000, the top prize in CU Boulder’s New Venture Launch class.

marlo vernon headshot

23-year-old CU Boulder grad creates non-invasive way to monitor independent elderly adults

March 18, 2021

As Marlo Vernon’s grandmother got older, her family began wondering how best they could keep an eye on her. As Vernon was completing her senior year at CU Boulder, she began to dive deeper into this idea. By monitoring water usage, she had come across a non-intrusive way for people to keep tabs on older adults. After graduating last spring, Vernon took the project full-time and launched CarePenguin.

max young

Hooot: Empowering individuals with the gift of safety

March 10, 2021

Max Young is a junior studying computer science and a solopreneur who has a passion for startups and building awesome products. His passion led him to compete in CU Boulder's New Venture Challenge (NVC) in 2019 with his business idea for PartyFavor (now known as Hooot), a smartphone app that is aimed at empowering individuals with the gift of safety.

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trAIn: Making employee training and onboarding easier

March 9, 2021

After competing in New Venture Challenge her freshman year at CU Boulder, computer science major Andrea Chamorro is back competing as a senior with a new business concept: trAIn. The company hopes to change the way employee training is done in industry.

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