For over 25 years, VentureWell has worked to support, train, and foster networks to ensure the next generation of science and technology innovators realize—and maximize—their potential in bringing their ideas to impact. From our experience developing forward-thinking programming to fostering deep collaboration among the best minds from research labs, classrooms, and beyond, we’re well positioned to provide valuable insights and best practices to advance innovation and entrepreneurship education. We want to share key learnings from our work with the greater innovation and entrepreneurship community to ensure all early-stage innovators have the opportunities to bring their inventions to the world via new ventures, creating jobs and impact at the same time.
Advancing Equity Resources
Reimagining STEM I&E by Centering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
This project, funded by the National Science Foundation (Award 2317317) and led by VentureWell, seeks to elevate the perspectives and lived experiences of those historically excluded from STEM innovation and entrepreneurship. Through a collaborative, iterative design process, 35 experts from diverse backgrounds co-created a vision for a fully inclusive I&E ecosystem. The resulting publication offers crucial guidance for STEM leaders, outlining actionable steps to engage Black, Latinx, Indigenous, women, and low-income individuals, address systemic barriers, and advance meaningful DEI strategies.
Advancing Equity: Dynamic Strategies for Authentic Engagement in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Our new report, Advancing Equity: Dynamic Strategies for Authentic Engagement in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, offers six interrelated approaches to help higher ed entrepreneurship centers and programs broaden participation among early-stage innovators and entrepreneurs.
Charting a Path Forward: Reflections on Initial Steps Toward Advancing Equity in Innovation & Entrepreneurship
This publication is a comprehensive reflection on our ongoing journey identifying, articulating, addressing, and assessing the systemic gaps in equity and inclusion across our work. It offers key lessons and recommendations gleaned from our past two years of tests, trials, failures, and successes in striving to advance equity and inclusion within our organization and in the broader innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) ecosystem. Read the publication for strategies on how to launch or strengthen equity efforts in your school or organization.
Embracing Catalytic Events for Change
Embracing Catalytic Events for Change spotlights three personal narratives from entrepreneurial educators centered on a pivotal moment that propelled each author into deeper, more authentic engagement around diversity, equity, and inclusion with their colleagues, their students, and themselves. It’s the second of three publications in our series, Advancing Equity: Navigating New Terrain. The publications demonstrate ways to apply strategies that can support innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) faculty and leaders of entrepreneurship centers to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in their programs.
Mapping Inclusive Pathways to Entrepreneurship
Mapping Inclusive Pathways to Entrepreneurship provides entrepreneurial ecosystem builders with key strategies to promote and support ever-broadening versions of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. This resource has strategies to establish a welcoming environment in which to introduce students from all backgrounds to new concepts, pathways, and ways of thinking, in order to support them in designing their own entrepreneurial journeys. It’s the third and final installment of our Advancing Equity: Navigating New Terrain series.
Transforming Programs Through an Equity Lens
Transforming Programs Through an Equity Lens, is a presentation of two assessment tools designed to facilitate deep and thoughtful conversations among staff about how to integrate ongoing DEI practices and learnings into programmatic work. It’s the first of three publications in our series, Advancing Equity: Navigating New Terrain. The publications demonstrate ways to apply strategies that can support innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) faculty and leaders of entrepreneurship centers to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in their programs.
Early-Stage Innovator Resources
From Idea to Impact: DayOne Response
Our new case study, From Idea to Impact: DayOne Response, highlights the nuanced experience of an early-stage innovator, and takes a retrospective look at the milestones that were accomplished along the way.
Innovator Insights Report
Our breadth of experience in training and supporting early-stage innovators as well as program data enables us to produce Innovator Insights: Illuminating the Path for Tomorrow’s Inventors. The report highlights valuable findings and best practices around embarking on a journey in innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Multidimensional Impact of Entrepreneurial Support Programs: Key Takeaways for Program Development and Evaluation
Our new report highlights the interrelated impact of entrepreneurship training on individuals, ventures, and ecosystems.
Venture Development Framework
The VentureWell Venture Development Framework is a tool to help evaluate the progression of early-stage science- and technology-based ventures. The framework, presented in a technical brief entitled, Developing and Evaluating Programs for Early-Stage Entrepreneurs: Describing Science- and Technology-Based Venture Development, can help inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs supporting entrepreneurs.
Higher Education Resources
Faculty Grants Program Retrospective Assessment
The report highlights the impact grant funding had on faculty, students, higher education institutions, and the broader innovation and entrepreneurship field.
Strengthening University-Based Systems to Support the Development of Intellectual Property (IP) Strategies
Our new report, Strengthening University-Based Systems to Support the Development of Intellectual Property (IP) Strategies: Insights from Faculty, Administrators, and Students, outlines elements of an ideal system that supports science- and technology-based students and faculty in developing, understanding, and protecting IP.
Accomplishments
2023 Year In Review
2023 was a year of forward motion for VentureWell. Harnessing momentum from a blueprint that works, we achieved several exciting milestones, forged new partnerships, and expanded our capacity.
2022 Year In Review
From idea to innovation to impact, VentureWell is fostering the next generation of student entrepreneurs and helping to bring their big ideas to life. The 2022 Year in Review has proven our blueprint works.
2021 Year In Review
In 2021, we kicked off the milestone 100th cohort of the National Science Foundation I-Corps national training program; provided infrastructure support to Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics innovators to identify, develop, and launch crucial COVID-19 testing solutions; shared our intentions to place equity and inclusion at the center of our work; and built on our achievements in the Engineering for One Planet Framework with The Lemelson Foundation and hundreds of stakeholders in academia, industry, policy, and non-profit organizations.
Celebrating 25 Years of Idea to Impact
VentureWell was launched in 1995 to test an audacious proposition: If creative students are given the opportunity to pursue invention and taught how to turn their ideas into scalable businesses, we can solve the world’s most pressing problems. Since then, we’ve directly supported or trained thousands of science and technology innovators at hundreds of universities, and nurtured thousands of their ventures. We’ve helped bring groundbreaking technological advancements to millions of people in more than 90 countries, in biomedicine and healthcare, sustainable energy and materials, and other sectors critical to people and the planet through scalable ventures that have attracted over a billion dollars in investment.
2019 Year In Review
In 2019, we launched the Venture Development Framework, a practical guide to measuring key dimensions of early-stage venture development, informed by our deep hands-on experience and practice-based evidence. We also expanded our portfolio of global work, launching several new initiatives to support innovation and entrepreneurship around the world. We hosted critical innovator trainings, created robust investor networks, and developed I&E ecosystems in emerging economies.
2018 Year In Review
Our annual Year in Review report highlights the work we’ve done in the past year, but the stories in the report do more than showcase the innovators we’ve supported. They illustrate the result of more than two decades of forward-thinking programming to build a vibrant innovation and entrepreneurship community in support of inventors and innovators globally.
2017 Year in Review
Our Year in Review report highlights the work we’ve done in the past year, but the stories in the report do more than showcase the innovators we’ve supported over the last twelve months. They illustrate the result of more than two decades of forward-thinking programming to build a vibrant innovation and entrepreneurship community in support of inventors and innovators globally.