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Overview

Success Stories

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Back To For Faculty & Researchers

This program is Part 1 in our

Tech Venture Program

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Tech Venture Workshop

April 4, April 11 & 25

The Tech Venture Workshop is the first phase of the three-part NYU Tech Venture Program. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Tech Venture Workshop (TVW) is a three half-day immersive program where NYU faculty, and their PhD student/postdoc teams learn how to test the commercial potential of their research directly with customers and partners. Participating teams receive up to $2,000 in grant funding from the NSF, training and mentorship on selecting the right market, customer segment, and value proposition. Participants will also learn about protecting their intellectual property and will gain access to follow-on grant opportunities.

Apply Here

Dates & Application Deadline

The next Tech Venture Workshop will take place (via Zoom) on:

• Fri, Apr. 4, 9am-2pm ET

• Fri, Apr. 11, 9am-2pm ET

• Fri, Apr. 25, 9am-2pm ET

Apply by Mon, Feb 26th @5pm!

Who Can Apply?

Faculty, postdocs, PhD students & researchers from any NYU school or college
Seeking to commercialize life science, physical science, computer/data science or engineering research and technologies developed at NYU
Have achieved proof of concept or working prototypes

Benefits

Up to $2,000 in non-dilutive funding for customer discovery and/or prototyping.
Hands-on training in evidence-based startup best practices
1:1 coaching from startup experts, founders & investors
Secure eligibility to apply to NSF I-Corps

Success Stories

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Vital Audio makes quality healthcare more efficient, affordable, and universally accessible through voice-based cardiac monitoring.

Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda

Co-Founder & CEO

(Tandon '23)

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Provides a cost effective chemical path to manufacture sustainable nylon.

Daniela Blanco, PhD

Co-Founder

(Tandon '21)

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Portable Diagnostic Systems's Integrity-1 Analysis System was designed to detect over 100 different substances simultaneously, allowing practitioners to build comprehensive test menus.

Glennon Simmons

Co-Founder

(Dentistry)

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CARA Systems is dedicated to pioneering a transformative innovation in the field of medical science and engineering. Its dynamic risk assessment tool for intracranial aneurysms is guided by a well-structured three-year plan.

Srushti Katore

Co-Founder

(Tandon '23)

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Flection.ai is a digital platform featuring AI-powered therapeutic games. It’s an affordable and accessible solution for stroke patients to regain lost motor function and speech from the comfort of their homes.

Alexandr Pak

Co-Founder

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What You Can Expect

The Tech Venture Workshop (TVW) helps NYU research faculty and their students/teams explore the commercial potential of their research and technologies.

TVW is offered three times a year in the Spring, Summer and Fall semesters. It requires a three half-day commitment for the online workshops, and five to 10 hours per week to complete a total of 20 customer discovery interviews. Accepted teams can expect to learn:

Day 1: Market opportunity exploration, defining your initial target customer, and conducting customer discovery interviews; Feedback on your team’s initial market opportunity
Day 2: Value proposition and value chain workshops; Feedback on your team’s initial customer/beneficiary segments
Day 3: Intellectual property strategy, and managing conflicts of interest, follow-on grant opportunities; Feedback on your team’s initial value propositions and customer ecosystems

Following the Workshop: Teams who successfully complete all three days of the Workshop receive NSF-lineage on their venture, making them eligible to apply for the NSF’s I-Corps program, which comes with $50,000 in grant in funding for customer discovery.

Completion of the workshop also qualifies participants for the NYU Female Founders Fellowship.

Who is TVW For?

The TVW is open to NYU full-time research faculty, as well as PhDs, Postdocs, researchers, and staff from across NYU who are interested in commercializing new scientifically driven research developed in a research lab at NYU. Outside/non-NYU co-founders/collaborators are welcome to participate with their NYU cofounders.

Disciplines supported: Life science, physical science, computer/data science, or engineering research and technologies developed at NYU
Stage of research: Achieved proof of concept or working prototypes at the time of application. To advance to the next stage (NSF I-Corps), the NSF will look for evidence that the underlying research was published in peer-reviewed journals (if that’s in process, that’s ok), and/or that you have you begun the process to protect your intellectual property by filing a patent or invention disclosure with NYU’s tech transfer office (TOV).

Commitment from participants:

Demonstrate passion for the problem they hope to solve with their innovation
Commit to attending ALL THREE of the half-day sessions and completing at least 20 customer discovery interviews during TVW

Pre-requisites: No prior business or experience is necessary.

NYU students, and faculty and staff who are working on startup ventures that do not seek to commercialize research from an NYU research lab should consider applying to the Startup Bootcamp instead.

Selection Criteria

In short, we are looking for teams that meet the following criteria:

NYU Research: TVW is for teams seeking to explore the commercial potential of faculty-led research developed at NYU.
Proof of Concept: Technology has achieved proof of concept or prototype and is ready for commercial development.
Teams of 2+ People: Teams of 2 or more may consist of NYU faculty, researchers, graduate students, or research staff. There must be at least one NYU founder that was materially involved in the research in question.
Interested in Starting a Startup: The funding, training, and mentorship provided is to assist NYU researchers in exploring the commercial potential and pathways for their research via the creation of a startup venture.
Committed: We are looking for teams that are eager to explore the commercial potential of their research and can commit now to 100% participation in all programs, activities, and events in the TVW.
Looking to Learn: Like in the lab, you will articulate hypotheses about your venture (who is your customer, what problem are you solving, how will you make money, etc.), and then learn how to test them in the real world with customer and partners. Invalidation of your hypotheses is common along the path to success.

Not sure if this is for you? Come in and meet with a member of the Entrepreneurial Institute team or attend an info session to learn more.

Benefits

Participating in the Tech Venture Workshop offers numerous benefits, including:

Market Insight: The program offers valuable insight into the market opportunities for research and development, helping participants understand market demands and evolve their innovations accordingly.
Funding Opportunities: Participating teams receive up to $2,000 to explore the commercial potential of their research. Teams also learn about follow on grant opportunities open to program alumni.
Qualification for NSF I-Corps and NYU’s Tech Venture Accelerator: The program serves as a pre-requisite to follow on programs, which provide ventures with an additional $100,000 in grant funding.
Enhanced Chances of Startup Success: Participating in TVW helps teams systematically de-risk their venture by gathering evidence to make business decisions, in turn improving the likelihood of bringing their innovations successfully to market.
Exposure to career pathways for grad students: We highly encourage faculty PIs to invite their PhD and postdocs to join for the workshop. PhDs and postdocs will learn how they can play a leading role in forming a company based on faculty research > e.g. students may become co-founders which take the company forward.
Training & Guidance: Participants receive training to identify valuable commercial opportunities emerging from academic research and guidance from established startup experts, entrepreneurs, and investors.
Saving Time & Resources: Speed is essential, but so is moving in the right direction. TVW helps teams validate their assumptions before they launch, saving value time and resources. Failing early and small prevents big failures downstream.

Back To For Faculty & Researchers

Startup Bootcamp

Startup Sprint

Summer Launchpad

Tech Venture Workshop

NSF I-Corps

Tech Venture Accelerator