Scholarship Details
VentureWell e-Team Programs
Application Deadline:
3/23/2024
Requirements:
Major in biomedical or chemical engineering; interest in health-related technology
Purpose:
NCIIA defines an E-Team as a multidisciplinary group of students, faculty, and industry mentors working together to bring a technology-based invention (product or service) to market. The "E" stands for entrepreneurship. ??
E-Teams may form as a result of a course, extracurricular program, or the independent initiative of students and faculty. There must be a minimum of 2 active undergraduate or graduate students on an E-Team. If members of an E-Team come from different universities, at least 1 of these schools must be a member of the NCIIA and administer the grant.
E-Team Program goals:
Support the development of technology-based inventions and innovations that will lead to positive social and/or environmental impact in the US and/or globally.
Assist E-Teams with developing a business model that will help get ideas out of the lab and classroom and into the market. NCIIA supports solutions that will scale in an entrepreneurial, economically self-sustaining way through the development of a product or service, in a for-profit, non-profit, licensing, or a partnership structure.
Provide opportunities for student inventors and innovators to learn by doing through working in multidisciplinary teams on real world problems with the potential for scalable impact.?
Eligible technology inventions and innovations
NCIIA supports the development of technological innovations that are scalable, commercially promising, and have a positive impact on society and/or the environment. Many E-Team inventions and innovations fall into 1 of the following categories:
Biomedical devices, health care solutions, and/or global health-based technologies
Clean technologies and green/sustainable materials
Technologies for low-resource settings (US and/or internationally) that address poverty alleviation and basic human needs such as affordable energy, clean water, health and medical devices, agriculture, IT and other income-generating tools
Other compelling technologies beyond those listed above that meet the program criteria will also be considered.
Eligibility:
Minimum requirements for eligible teams:
There must be at least 2 active students on the team (enrolled in a credit-bearing undergraduate, graduate, and/or post-doc program) for the duration of the proposed grant period.
All teams require a faculty advisor (or center or administrative director) to act as Principal Investigator. The PI will be responsible for tracking, overseeing, and reporting the disbursement of grant funds. Students cannot serve as Principal Investigators.
Other team members should include advisors from within and outside the university who have experience, knowledge, and network connections that will contribute to the team’s success. We strongly suggest that there is both technical and business expertise represented on the team. There is no maximum team size, although the average size of successful teams is usually between 4 and 10 members.
The team must be a part of an NCIIA member institution (US-based college or university). Check here to see if your college or university is a member. If your institution is not a member, please contact us at grants@nciia.org.
Terms of Award:
The E-Team Program is a competitive process which consists of 3 stages. To enter the E-Team Program, all teams must apply first for Stage 1. In rare cases, reviewers may fast-track eligible teams directly to Stage 2. Acceptance into Stage 1 does not guarantee acceptance into subsequent stages.
Stage 1: $5,000 funding + VentureLab 1 workshop
Teams that submit successful Stage 1 applications will be awarded a $5,000 Stage 1 E-Team grant and will be required to participate in a 3-day VentureLab 1 workshop. The $5,000 award is intended to cover travel expenses related to attending the VentureLab workshop and to assist the team with minor expenses associated with furthering their innovation.
VentureLab 1 is a 3-day workshop designed to help teams accelerate their projects by creating an action plan to develop, align, and position the technical and commercial aspects of their innovations. The workshop will also better position teams for the Stage 2 application process. Full participation is required in order to receive Stage 1 grant funds. NCIIA does not allow overhead to be taken out of E-Team program grant awards.
Stage 2: up to $20,000 funding + VentureLab 2 workshop + tactical coaching + network
After attending the VentureLab 1 workshop, Stage 1 E-Teams may apply for Stage 2. E-Teams accepted into Stage 2 will receive up to $20,000 in additional grant funding and will be required to attend a VentureLab 2 workshop. VentureLab 2 will helps teams further refine their business strategy and focuses specifically on operationalizing each aspect of their plan.
Following the VentureLab 2 workshop, E-Teams will receive tactical coaching from NCIIA to guide the team towards successful completion of their milestones. Teams will be grouped by area of focus and will be required to participate in 6 coaching sessions via conference call. Access to relevant contacts in the NCIIA network may be provided during the VentureLab workshop and during coaching sessions. Full participation in the VentureLab 2 workshop and regular participation in 6 scheduled coaching sessions is required.
Note: Stage 1 E-Teams can click HERE for specific guidelines for submitting Stage 2 applications.
Stage 3: The VentureWell Program and Investment Opportunity
NCIIA’s VentureWell program focuses on helping teams develop a "lens of the investor" perspective. Participating teams will assess one another and provide peer mentoring and feedback. The program will culminate in a venture forum, during which teams will compete for investment from NCIIA, plus additional funds from our partners. NCIIA will invest up to $50,000 in two to three Stage 3 teams per year.
At this time, the VentureWell program is designed for for-profit ventures only. Two sector-specific sections will be offered each year: one in the winter for teams working on cleantech devices, and one in the summer for teams working on biomedical and/or health-related devices.
NCIIA negotiates an equity stake in Stage 3 investments on a case by case basis. No equity is required in Stage 1 or Stage 2 grant funding.
Please Submit:
Apply online at www.nciia.org/login
name and contact information
endorsement from a faculty advisor
All program applications must be submitted online. Anyone on the team may serve as the applicant on a submission. ALL deadlines end at 11:59pm eastern time on the specified due date unless otherwise indicated.
To start, you’ll need to have an NCIIA account. Creating an account is easy, and anyone can do it. To access an existing account or to create a new one, click here. ??You may start, save, stop, and return to your online proposal at anytime before submitting.
You may preview a PDF of the online application here. ?PLEASE NOTE: This PDF includes screen shots of NCIIA's 5-step proposal process. The proposal content shown may vary slightly from the E-Team Program proposal, but steps for the application are the same. This PDF is for preview purposes only.
?If you are still unsure about whether your idea is a fit or have questions that are not answered in the above, email a 1-paragraph abstract for feedback to grants@nciia.org or call the grants team at (413) 587-2172.
