Venture Initiation Program

We're part of the W25 batch at Y Combinator! Thank you Garry Tan and Eric Levine for your mentorship as we embark on our journey to build a more circular electronics industry!

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We wrapped up Fall 2024’s VIP-X last Wednesday, and I’ve been reflecting on how much fun I’ve had organizing this program and working with such an incredible group of people. From our fearless founders to our amazing mentors, it’s been an absolute privilege to be part of this journey. To our founders ---------------- Mathieu Perez, Melanie Herbert, Samhita Karnati, Saahil Madge, Chris Stolte, Akhil Peddikuppa, and Alexis Barber —wishing you all the best as you continue your entrepreneurial journeys. You inspire me! To our guest speakers ----------------------- Your time, expertise, and generosity brought so much more than knowledge to the table. You sparked confidence, curiosity, and transformative breakthroughs that will stay with our founders far beyond the program: ?? Will Hu and Albert Katz led an exceptional, infinitely relatable session on navigating challenges with customers and co-founder dynamics. ?? Praveen Kosuri broke down the legal essentials for startups—entity selection, equity compensation, and navigating fundraising—while sharing practical advice on tackling co-founder relationships and avoiding early pitfalls. ?? David Levine reminded us of the importance of continuous customer discovery, sharing relatable lessons from his own entrepreneurial pivots. ?? Isoken Igbinedion brought fun and creativity to marketing strategies, guiding us through an interactive exercise that encouraged founders to truly see things through their customers’ eyes. ?? Brett Topche provided expert guidance on fundraising and pitching, giving founders clarity and confidence as they approach investors. ?? Mike Taormina, CFA simplified the essentials of startup financials, proving that numbers are powerful tools—not roadblocks—on the path to growth. To my wonderful colleagues: ---------------------------- Jeffrey Babin and John Ondik, I love working with you both. Thanks for always brightening my day and giving your all to this program year after year. I’m beyond grateful to be a part of the Venture Initiation Program, Venture Lab, and the entrepreneurial community at the University of Pennsylvania. #Entrepreneurship

Bringing our Venture Initiation Program Accelerator Fall 2024 cohort to a close with presentations of what our ventures have accomplished, how they got here, and where they’re going. So proud! So inspiring! Let’s go Alexis Barber (Too Collective), Melanie Herbert (Sync Labs), Samhita Karnati (ShelfLife), Saahil Madge (Felicity), Akhil Peddikuppa (Horus Health), Mathieu Perez (Lucy) Chris Stolte (Capivara)! It is an honor and privilege to work with these Venture Lab and Penn Engineering Entrepreneurship founders as well as colleagues, John Ondik & Miesha A.. Can’t wait to get to work with next cohort in 2025!

I had the privilege of attending the US Conference of Mayors in Kansas City last weekend, where over 200 mayors gathered to discuss high-impact innovations and key issues facing our cities. On Saturday, I spoke onstage about MD Ally and our collaborative Public Safety & Payor partners. It was an honor to share our vision and progress. Thank you again to United States Conference of Mayors for awarding MD Ally | 911 Network Navigation the 2024 Civic IO Innovation Award and for your continued dedication to advancing technology within our communities. We are excited to continue expanding access to convenient care across the US. #USCM2024 #Telehealth #911Services #Partnerships #mdally

The first official month of FirstWork is in the books. We launched in May after extensive beta testing to refine the app and it paid off! About 1000 BCBAs are on the app, an early milestone we are very proud of. We’ve made some big updates this month that have been a total game-changer for users. Notably, it’s now possible to save custom lessons and share them with team members or parents. It’s unlocked a whole new level of inter-team collaboration and time-saving which has been so cool to see. Some highlights from the month: -Released two big updates: You can now save up to 10 lessons and share them with other FirstWork users. -Completed three pilots in special education programs at the tail end of the school year, everyone’s super excited for next year!? -Attended ABAI and met tons of lovely people, thanks for so many great chats? -Recorded some great podcasts and live events with?Arthur Hairston, M.Ed., BCBA Daniel M. Zimmerman, Jenna Kokoski, BCBA, the Brett DiNovi & Associates (BDA) team. -Started a big FirstWork efficacy study, can’t wait to share the details and results!? -Established some big new partnerships, details coming soon! Thanks for all the support from everyone. The more time I spend in ABA the more I realize how special this community is, it’s a great science with even better people. #ABA #BCBA #RBT

Exciting news from BMES: Yi-An Hsieh and I won 1st place in Electrical/Computer Engineering at the Biomedical Engineering Society/Medtronic Design Competition! Thank you to the rest of our team, Jackson Dooley, Isabella Mirro, and Parth Mody for all the great work, and thank you to all of our advisors for helping to prepare us. Lastly, thank you to BMES and Medtronic for sponsoring the competition and hosting us. We had a great time both presenting and at the rest of the conference.

As my time at Wharton comes to a close, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the Venture Lab at the The Wharton School of Pennsylvania. The support my co-founder, Juhi Gupta, and I received has been pivotal in the development of BrainFood, our innovative sparkling water designed to support brain health. I am proud to say that through my time at Wharton, BrainFood has received over $30K in non-equity grants, which could not have been possible without Venture Lab. Below is a snapshot of some key achievements via Venture Lab: ?? Accepted into Venture Initiation Program's VIPX & Awarded VIPX Grant: UPenn’s most competitive accelerator, which was a game-changer for us. ?? Granted all three Penn Wharton Innovation Fund (PWIF) awards: These grants helped provide the financial backbone for our development. ?? Accepted into the Food Innovation Cohort: allowed us to develop and refine BrainFood from scratch. It offered access to a professional kitchen for testing, invaluable mentorship, and additional funding for R&D. We’ve also made impressive strides in competitive platforms: ?? Semi-Finalist in UPenn’s Startup Challenge Pitch Competition ?? Semi-Finalist for the Draper Bridge Award We are incredibly thankful to everyone at Venture Lab and UPenn who believed in our vision and supported us every step of the way. I want to specifically call out a few names: - Lauren Hooks: one of the kindest, friendliest, most helpful persons I have met. I don’t think Penn could find a better Food lab manager. Thank you for not only going above and beyond in everything you do, but also for your friendship and making everyday in the lab enjoyable. - John Ondik and Julia Middleton: for their mentorship during and after VIPX. Your insights have been invaluable, and for your continued push to move forward and not get stuck in decision paralysis. - Jeffrey Babin: for every pushback, difficult question, and critical feedback. I can’t even begin to explain how instrumental this has been to our strategy and growth, and I am extremely appreciative. Additionally, for all your advice and tips throughout VIPC and VIPX. - Jill Anick (she/her): for all you do running PWIF (which is a lot) and for brightening up the room with your friendly smile & conversation. - Valentina Goutorova & Miesha Agrippa: for helping connect mentors and all the details that go into keeping the VIP programs & events running so smoothly. We are excited about the future of BrainFood, as we aim to be part of the solution to better brain and mental wellness, one sip at a time. See more of our journey or visit our website to join the waitlist if you want to be first to know when pre-orders launch! Please also feel free to reach out - we are always open to new connections, advice, and feedback. www.brainfoodmood.com Insta / tiktok : @brainfood_mood