Entrepreneurship News

Collegiate Summer Venture Program Celebrates Startup Success

August 06, 2019

Hosted by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship and Valley Venture Mentors (VVM), the Collegiate Summer Venture Program (CSVP) wrapped its 10 weeks of programming, mentoring, networking and curriculum with a Celebration on Monday, July 29, at VVM’s Hub in Springfield, Mass.

Innovation Challenge Lives up to its Name

April 08, 2019

Let's Talk About It won top honors among the six ventures competing for seed money at the 2018-2019 Innovation Challenge Final.

Six Ventures Advance to Innovation Challenge: The Final

March 01, 2019

In front of a panel of four judges, 15 student-led teams gave five-minute pitches describing their ventures and participated in a 10-minute Q&A session.

UMass Startups Keep Winning Federal Small Business Grants

February 26, 2019

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.

Isenberg Alum and Entrepreneur Brings Collaborative Art to Kids

December 18, 2018

Chris Bent '12 founded Piccles, a collaborative online coloring app targeted to children in hospitals and other medical facilities. The 2012 Innovation Challenge runner-up (for Crowd Solar, which used crowd-funding to help communities buy renewable energy) has consulted with Matt Glennon's marketing classes on his new venture.

Boy Meets School: Business Prodigy Finds Entrepreneurial Environment

December 05, 2018

How a business prodigy found at UMass the entrepreneurial environment he had been searching for.

Building Better Villages Wins Hult Prize at UMass

December 04, 2018

Aiming to improve the residential foundation for rural communities in India, the venture team consists of Aashish Kumar (computer science), Kavya Ramachandran (chemical engineering) and Achintya Kumar (engineering).

TempGrams Wins Top Prize at Innovation Challenge: The Seed Pitch

November 30, 2018

In front of a panel of industry experts, 17 teams gave five-minute pitches of their venture ideas and participated in Q&A with the judges, competing for $15,000 in equity-free funding.

$2,500 Awarded to Start 2018-19 Innovation Challenge

November 06, 2018

In front of an audience of nearly 200 students, faculty, staff and supporters, 27 teams gave 60-second pitches of their venture idea. Determined by a panel of industry expert judges, $2,500 in prize money was awarded to the first-, second- and third-place teams and the audience choice selection.

Start Them Up: Inside Berthiaume Center’s Summer Accelerator with five promising ventures

October 16, 2018

It’s a steamy Friday afternoon in early June, and the window air conditioner in the third-floor conference room in Bartlett Hall is working furiously to provide relief to the handful of students gathered around a large meeting table. The setting is unmistakably a university classroom in summer, but once Birton Cowden begins to speak, it becomes immediately clear that this is anything but a typical college course.

New Leadership Joins Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship

September 05, 2018

Interim Dean Tom Moliterno announced two new directors for the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship on September 4. Gregory S. Thomas (left), a proven leader with diverse experience in corporate America, has been named the center’s new executive director. Stephen Brand (right), who has taught entrepreneurship at colleges and universities across the country, will serve as the new associate director.

The Year in Great Ideas: A Look Back at the 2017-18 Innovation Challenge

July 30, 2018

Hosted each school year by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the Innovation Challenge is a series of four entrepreneurial competitions that replicates the process of developing and pitching a winning business venture. From the opening Minute Pitch event in the fall through the high-stakes Final round in the spring, teams have the opportunity to refine and improve their business plans and messaging, and to win thousands of dollars in seed money — thanks to sponsors Ernst & Young, The Heiser Family, Norman “Bud” Robertson, Kumar Ganapathy, Jeff Glassman, Darn It! and John & Sally Burke — to help make their ideas a reality. October 25, 2017: The Minute Pitch The venue: Amherst Room, Campus Center The prize: $2,500, awarded to the top three teams and the audience choice

Past Innovation Challenge Winner Continues Growth, Receives Funding

June 21, 2018

Aclarity, LLC has recently been awarded additional funding via the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) Catalyst grant program, the 2018 Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) Accelerator and the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (NSF SBIR) grant program.

UMass Presence at Annual Grinspoon Awards

May 07, 2018

On April 25, eight ventures led by current UMass students and one UMass alum were recognized at the 15th annual Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative Awards event in Holyoke, Mass. Co-founder of FogKicker, a high performance anti-fog solution, BDIC alum Marc Gammell was presented with the Grinspoon, Garvey and Young Alumni Award.

2018 Innovation Challenge Finalists

April 18, 2018

A description of the seven finalists for the annual cross-campus entrepreneurship competition run by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship at the Isenberg School of Management.

Meet the 2018 Innovation Challenge Judges

April 18, 2018

The seven judges for the 2017-18 Innovation Challenge.

Three Biomedical Start-ups Take Top Prizes at Innovation Challenge

April 18, 2018

Three student-led teams won top honors at the final of the 2017-18 Innovation Challenge at the annual cross-campus entrepreneurship competition run by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship at the Isenberg School of Management.

Political Analyst Tackles #MeToo Workplace Issues

April 11, 2018

The outpouring of female accounts of sexual misconduct in the workplace from the #MeToo movement first took hold in response to the world of Hollywood, but the problem has surfaced in almost every sphere, including the world of business. Companies that once seemed invincible have paid dearly, both in business and reputational terms—a concern for anyone with an entrepreneurial vision. Political analyst and federal anti-discrimination law expert Jennifer C. Braceras shared her knowledge on the topic in Charlie Johnson's entrepreneurship class.

Seven Finalists Selected for Innovation Challenge

March 02, 2018

Hosted by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the four-part Innovation Challenge continued with The Semifinal on Wednesday, February 28. In front of a panel of four judges, 12 student-led teams gave five-minute pitches describing their ventures and participated in a 10-minute Q&A session. The judges selected seven teams to advance to Innovation Challenge

Progress in an Alimentary/Business Journey

January 18, 2018

“At the end of the day, our weight loss device is life changing,” Allurion Technologies cofounder and chief scientific officer Shantanu Gaur told students in Charlie Johnson’s Isenberg course, New Ventures. Gaur was describing his company’s Elipse intragastric balloon, which he advised, “can be placed in a lunch break without anesthesia or endoscopy.” With the [essentially] procedureless Elipse, “you lose 15 to 20% of your body weight in four months,” he said. You should view the Elipse, he added, as the centerpiece in a lifestyle strategy that emphasizes more mindful eating and exercise.

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