Loading the 2024 Year In Review
A catalyst speeds change; it creates the necessary circumstances for transformation to take place. In many ways, I see VentureWell itself as a catalyst. We seek opportunities where our expertise, network, and resources can make an outsized impact, and then we drive meaningful change through innovation.
Phil Weilerstein
Access a PDF version of the VentureWell 2024 Year in Review.
2024 was a year of continued growth for VentureWell. We transformed programs, forged new partnerships, and broadened our impact. Together, we are catalyzing inclusive, sustainable, scalable innovation.
83%
Active Aspire alumni ventures
1700+
Submissions received for the ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health
64%
E-Team Program teams that include women entrepreneurs
153
Ecosystem Futures Fellowship applicants
$7+ billion
Total follow-on funding raised by alumni ventures
606
Spoke members of the ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub
Empowering Early-Stage Ventures To Accelerate Blue Economy Solutions
The VentureWell Ocean Enterprise Accelerator, funded by NOAA, will help innovators develop ocean resilience technologies and foster a vibrant blue economy. →
ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health
The ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub awarded $113 million to fund innovators addressing critical unmet challenges in women’s health. →
Celebrating the launch
Photo credit: Edythe McNamee
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)
Photo credit: Edythe McNamee
ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn
Photo credit: Edythe McNamee
Collaborating For Impact
Partnerships are crucial to our success. This year, we created new ways to support entrepreneurship in higher education, developed new diagnostic tests with our federal partners in RADx® ITAP, served as a Power Connector for the American-Made Solar Prize for the third consecutive year, and more.
Supporting Promising Innovators Through the VentureWell Accelerator
Building Sustainability Into a Medtech Startup
Aspire participants Daniel and David Lundberg founded T33 Dental with a focus on medtech innovation and sustainability. Their startup is developing a reusable device that delivers medicine directly into tooth enamel, effectively preventing and treating decay. →
NSF I-Corps™ Program Celebrates 150th Cohort
For the last 13 years, we have supported the National Science Foundation (NSF) in building a nationwide ecosystem that helps researchers bring technologies to market, through entrepreneurship training and the National Innovation Network.
More Pathways to Inclusive Innovation
We believe innovators can create meaningful change in the world. We aim to remove barriers and offer foundational support that allows determined, inventive people from any background to solve significant problems.
Ecosystems Grow Student Entrepreneurs
E-Team Program alum Angel Teagle leveraged training, funding, and mentorship to turn his idea into a company. →
Sustainable Practice Impact Award
ReJoule is creating a circular economy and revolutionizing the electric vehicle (EV) battery industry. →
Living Our Commitment to Inclusive Innovation
VentureWell President and CEO Phil Weilerstein shared our progress, learnings, and new and ongoing commitments to equity. →
A Decade of Aspire: Bridging Funding Gaps
Our Aspire program prepares startup founders to engage with investors and secure the seed funding needed to bring their medtech and climatetech inventions to market. Of the 177 Aspire startups from 2015-2023, 81% are still active, 53% are women-led, and 33% are BIPOC-led. We share our findings in a new report. →
Sparking Change in Real Time
This year, five dynamic and interactive convenings brought together nearly 1,000 attendees from across the innovation and entrepreneurship landscape to cross-pollinate ideas and launch new collaborative projects, proving the catalyzing power of community.
OPEN 2024
Photo credit: Rebecca Rodriguez
OPEN 2024
Photo credit: Rebecca Rodriguez
OPEN 2024
Photo credit: Rebecca Rodriguez
OPEN 2024
Photo credit: Rebecca Rodriguez
Deshpande Symposium 2024
Photo credit: Lisa Helfert
Deshpande Symposium 2024
Photo credit: Lisa Helfert
2024 DEBUT Challenge Awards Ceremony
Photo credit: VentureWell staff
National Innovation Network 2024
Photo credit: VentureWell staff
EILC National Workshop 2024
Photo credit: VentureWell staff
BME-IDEA 2024
Photo credit: VentureWell staff
BME-IDEA 2024
Photo credit: VentureWell staff
Catalyzing Innovation Across Our Network
Celebrating the 18 VentureWell-supported leaders featured in Forbes and TIME →
Providing infrastructure support for the first-ever FDA-approved rapid hepatitis C test →
Advocating for ways the federal government can boost the U.S. innovation economy →
Strengthening contract-winning capabilities for Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) →
Managing public and private collaboration to create a more accessible mpox test →
Elevating incubation in food and agriculture in partnership with the United Nations →
Developing research-driven tools for teaching inclusive entrepreneurship →
Empowering future environmental leaders from HBCUs and MSIs →
Securing a $5.75 million grant to launch Fieldbook Venture Studio →