Twenty-two student ventures have been chosen for the winter 2026 cohort of the E-Team Program. Selected from a competitive group of applicants, these teams exemplify innovative thinking, a clear vision for meaningful change, and a dedication to confronting critical challenges in healthcare, sustainability, information technology, and other essential sectors through science- and technology-enabled solutions.
Sixteen teams will kick off their entrepreneurship journey in Pioneer, the first stage of the E-Team Program, where they’ll receive $5,000 in grant funding and intensive entrepreneurship training to help identify the right market for their products. Six teams will advance to Propel, receiving an additional $20,000 in funding and three months of expert-led training to fine-tune their business models and validate their business hypotheses.
“These emerging innovators are pushing boundaries with ideas that could transform their fields,” said VentureWell Senior Program Officer Cara Barnes. “Through the E-Team Program, they gain the tools and expertise to strengthen their pathways to practical impact.”
This cohort encompasses innovative solutions spanning diverse focus areas, including manufacturing and healthcare. SafePlate Technologies Inc., selected for Pioneer, is bringing lab-grade food-contaminant testing directly to manufacturers with a reusable device delivering rapid, reliable, and quantitative results. SilkMed, a team advancing to Propel, is transforming burn care with a patented sprayable silk fibroin dressing that conforms seamlessly to wounds.
Learn more about the latest cohort of Pioneer and Propel teams and the challenges they are addressing:
Agriculture
AccessFlora | University of Connecticut
Principal Investigator: Mingyu Qiao
Team Members: Keegan Jalbert, Diana Pinta
AccessFlora is expanding market accessibility and improving sustainability in aquaculture by developing an alternative, cost-effective bivalve feed for use in controlled aquaculture systems.
Verdura Automations | New Jersey Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator: Oksana Manzhura
Team Members: Kermina David, Santiago Garcia
Verdura is a smart hub system that connects with one’s own equipment to make greenhouses more efficient, easier to manage, and scalable for every grower.
Energy/Materials
Building Affordable Futures | Old Dominion University
Principal Investigator: Dalya Ismael
Team Members: Adil Khan, Machelle Williams
Building Affordable Futures creates low-cost, durable bricks from recycled plastic and sand—reducing housing costs, repurposing waste, and delivering sustainable construction solutions for low-income communities.
HAPI | Oregon State University
Principal Investigator: Nordica MacCarty
Team Members: Jaden Berger, Pedro De La Cruz Alta
Health and Pasteurization Indicator (HAPI) helps provide safe food and drinking water in low-resource and emergency situations by using an electronic sensor that signals when water reaches pasteurization temperature.
NuKol | Northern Michigan University
Principal Investigator: Corinne Bodeman
Team Members: Christopher Anderson, Lindsay Heikkinen
NuKol recycles hard-to-process paper and plastics into clean, high-energy fuel pellets, cutting landfill waste and replacing coal in heavy industry.
Environment
Kanopi | University of Miami
Principal Investigator: Prannoy Suraneni
Team Members: Danielle Bejar, Joshua Prabahar, Kylee Rux
Kanopi is a modular, hexagonal floating shade structure designed for marine conservation to help governmental agencies in countering the effects of solar radiation on coral reefs.
Healthcare/Medical
BlueHealer | Johns Hopkins University
Principal Investigator: Youseph Yazdi
Team Members: Mitchell Lipke, Jay Tailor
BlueHealer is developing a novel orthopedic implant that harnesses the body’s natural healing response to grow new blood vessels, restore blood flow, heal chronic wounds, and ultimately save limbs in patients with no-option chronic limb-threatening ischemia.
Capicú Technologies | University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez
Principal Investigator: Wilfredo Lugo Beauchamp
Team Members: Sebastian Cruz Romero, Luis Luna-Betancourt
CareOutpost is a portable system that helps nurses turn scattered medical data into clear triage and complete charting in remote settings.
ENDOGuard | Arizona State University
Principal Investigator: Chao Wang
Team Members: Jenna Materna, Solenne Norvor-Davis, Maya Sampath
ENDOGuard is an at-home test for endometriosis. It analyzes menstrual fluid and uses a color change technology to signal the presence of molecular markers linked to the disease.
FloDx | University of Pennsylvania
Principal Investigator: Michael Siedlik
Team Members: Elliot Jang, Sophia Jorgensen, Nicholas Manuto
FloDx improves at-home diagnostic sampling by increasing analyte yield and consistency with a comfortable, self-administered nasal lavage device designed for direct-to-consumer workflows.
Ilytra Medical | Johns Hopkins University
Principal Investigator: Michelle Zwernemann
Team Members: Samhith Bhrugubanda, Viraaj Reddi, Ishita Unde
Ilytra Medical is building a lighter material for wearable medical radiation-protection lead aprons to prevent long-term orthopedic strain in healthcare professionals.
Neuroclear Pro Park | University of North Dakota
Principal Investigator: Enrique Alvarez
Team Members: Mercedes Terry, Abigail Tubbs
Neuroclear Pro Park is developing a novel continuous-monitoring wearable that tracks biological changes associated with the progression of Parkinson’s disease, enabling earlier intervention and personalized treatment.
Nooriva | Stevens Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Kang-Mieler
Team Members: Evan Peneiras, Nicole Petrocelli
Nooriva Smart Glasses deliver non-contact, bilateral intra-ocular pressure monitoring for 12 hours on a single charge, helping ophthalmologists track glaucoma progression and deliver personalized care.
Smarcle Tech | Binghamton University
Principal Investigator: Siyuan Rao
Team Members: Eunji Hong, Chen Lin, Zuer Wu
Smarcle Tech is developing a soft hydrogel spinal interface for precise neural recording and stimulation, enabling advanced therapies for spinal cord injury and neuromodulation.
Vitalis | New York University
Principal Investigator: Richard Stein
Team Members: Raynard Abdullai, Rayan Bargouth, Asser Elashwah
Vitalis transforms surgical outcomes with BioBlend, a bio-integrated tool that enhances tissue regeneration and reduces complications in sports medicine procedures.
Manufacturing
SafePlate Technologies Inc. | California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo
Principal Investigator: Thomas Katona
Team Members: Avery Taylor, Mateo Wolfe
SafePlate brings lab-grade food-contaminant testing directly to manufacturers with a reusable device delivering rapid, reliable, and quantitative results, reducing recalls and improving safety.
Energy/Materials
Quantum Power Systems | The University of Texas at Austin
Principal Investigator: Alex Huang
Team Members: Saleh Farzamkia, Halladi Shashwatha Kumara Kedlay
Many traditional solar systems require separate wiring to a central inverter, which necessitates bulky hardware beyond the panels and makes installation complex. Nanoinverter efficiently and reliably converts DC power from solar panels into AC power through plug-and-play architecture, lowering overall cost and increasing reliability.
STROP | SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Principal Investigator: Wendong Tao
Team Members: Taye Hamid, Pubudu Wickramasinghe Arachchilage
Across the United States, nutrient discharge limits for phosphorus are becoming increasingly strict for wastewater facilities and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). STROP (Struvite Recovery for Organic Production) is a patented, chemical-free technology that converts phosphorus-rich wastewater and CAFO effluents into a slow-release, Organic Materials Review Institute–eligible struvite fertilizer providing a sustainable and certifiable nutrient source for organic farming and food production, addressing a critical gap in the availability of reliable phosphorus inputs.
Healthcare/Medical
Everest Medical | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
Principal Investigator: Thomas Katona
Team Members: Jenna Eissmann, Madeleine Mumford
Shoulder dystocia and related injuries occur in 0.5% to 1.5% of all births in the United States, subjecting thousands of women and infants to injury during childbirth and potentially life-ending trauma. Everest is developing a silicone-coated device to provide a safer, standardized treatment for shoulder dystocia during childbirth, replacing injury-prone manual maneuvers through expert-informed design and prototyping.
SilkMed | Tufts University
Principal Investigator: Kevin Oye
Team Members: Zachary DiMuccio, Sebastian Useche
Roughly 600,000 Americans suffer burn injuries each year, requiring emergency medical care. SilkMed is transforming burn care with a patented sprayable silk fibroin dressing that conforms seamlessly to wounds, providing complete coverage, accelerated healing, and reduced pain during treatment.
UrInControl | Johns Hopkins University
Principal Investigator: Mary Austin
Team Members: Alex Chao, Lily Liu, Aadit Walia
As many as 37 in 100 women may experience stress urinary incontinence (SUI)—involuntary urine leakage triggered by physical exertion. Yet, over half of those with SUI do not seek treatment due to societal stigma and the high cost of existing treatment options. UrInControl is developing an accessible, affordable, and sustainable solution, empowering women with SUI to manage their condition comfortably and privately.
Manufacturing
Zernike Precision Optics | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator: Thomas James
Team Members: Andrew Nichols, Evan O’Brien
Aspheric lenses play a key role in correcting spherical aberrations, which occur when light passing through a curved lens doesn’t focus clearly, resulting in blurred or distorted images; however, their high production costs and complexity limit widespread use. Zernike is developing an intelligent robotic system that uses machine learning and real-time optical sensing to automate and reduce the cost of aspheric lens manufacturing, making high-performance optics more accessible and scalable.
Meet the Winter 2026 E-Team Program Partners and Sponsors
We are thankful to the dedicated partners that work with us to support these ventures, including The Lemelson Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the power of invention to improve lives; Qualcomm, a leading wireless tech innovator; Cooley LLP, an international law firm spurring the power of innovation through working with clients in the technology, life sciences, and high-growth industries; and the University of Miami, our host for the winter 2026 training workshops.
The E-Team Program Entrepreneurial Journey
Our winter 2026 cohort teams will begin rigorous entrepreneurship training to advance their innovations. During Pioneer, teams will identify the ideal market for their invention, understand potential venture pathways, and define their unique value within the industry landscape. Teams that move on to Propel will form and test their business model hypotheses, fleshing out their business model canvas, verifying it through customer interviews, and working on building their intellectual property portfolio. Participants in our winter workshops will convene in Miami, Florida, at the University of Miami, January 7-8 (Pioneer) and January 21-22 (Propel).
About the E-Team Program
Through the E-Team Program, we have trained 620+ student teams and 2,000+ early-stage innovators. The teams have raised more than $607 million in follow-on funding and launched over 260 ventures since participating in our program.
Learn more about VentureWell’s E-Team Program, which supports student-led science- and engineering-based teams from across the nation in bringing their high-impact innovations out of the lab and into the market.