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Introducing the Harvard Innovation Labs 2018 Summer Venture Incubation Program (VIP) Teams

In his address during Harvard’s 367th Commencement, U.S. Representative and Civil Rights Leader John Lewis delivered a powerful message about the importance of President Faust’s One Harvard initiative: “The brilliant mind is not confined to one discipline, or one way of thinking,” Lewis said. “In fact, true genius sees connections and relationships across barriers to […]

Here’s what you missed at the 2018 President’s Innovation Challenge Awards Ceremony (video)

The seventh annual President’s Innovation Challenge Awards Ceremony was a memorable evening. We celebrated innovation and entrepreneurship. We said farewell to President Drew Faust and thanked her for creating the Challenge and the One Harvard spirit of cross-disciplinary collaboration that inspired the creation of Harvard Innovation Labs. We heard pitches from 15 remarkable venture teams. […]

Students’ innovations recognized for real-world impact

Harvard Gazette

“When you decide to take a risk to enter a contest, to join together in a collaboration, to try to have a big dream — that is the kind of risk that is at the heart of everything that is represented here.”

The President’s Innovation Challenge Awards Ceremony is this evening!

Here’s a quick look back at last month’s announcement of our finalists. These 15 teams are pitching live today before a panel of 14 expert judges. At stake: $310,000 in Bertarelli Foundation prize money ($75,000 for the winners and $25,000 for the runners up in three categories: Open, Social Impact or Cultural Enterprise, and Health […]

Harvard Venture Story: Using tech to fight political polarization — Laura Carpenter and Abridge News

Using tech to fight political polarization — Laura Carpenter and Abridge News A Harvard Venture Story By Ralph Ranalli Harvard Innovation Labs Content Editor In entrepreneurship circles, people sometimes talk about “founder-venture fit” —  the degree to which the mindset and the skill set of a founder aligns with challenges their startup faces. So it […]

Harvard Venture Stories: How two young entrepreneurs found a sympathetic ear — and something more.

Entrepreneurs pour their hearts into their ventures. Sometimes those hearts meet. Will Guillaume Foussier met Rong Xia last year at a social mixer at the Harvard Launch Lab. He thought she was interesting. She thought he was sweet. His company, Ace-Up, is working to become the go-to marketplace for life and career coaches, connecting them […]

Harvard Venture Story: When your secret sauce is how you stir the pot — the story of TarDisk and SparkSales

Pierce Schiller had a successful startup, a great product, and climbing sales. Not much there to suggest a major pivot was in his future. But Schiller had something else going for him too: an open mind. A mind that was flexible enough to listen when a little voice said maybe the breakthrough value item his […]

Announcing the Venture Incubation Program (VIP) Teams Competing for $310,000 in Funding

Long before we kicked off 2018 at the Harvard Innovation Labs, we asked ourselves: how can we better resource the teams selected for the Spring VIP? Over the years, we’ve added a number of resources to the VIP program. In 2017 alone, we opened an AR/VR studio, expanded our team of advisors, and refocused our […]

Harvard Venture Story: Zoba uses machine learning and unconventional data to calculate risk and confront fear

By Ralph Ranalli Harvard Innovation Labs Content Editor As a Marine officer working diplomatic security in Iraq, Dan Brennan knew all about the fear of the unknown. Too often, when trying to protect US diplomats in Baghdad from terrorists or other threats, he found that there just wasn’t enough reliable information to help security teams […]

Introducing the Summer 2017 Social Impact, Educational and Cultural Ventures

In today’s atmosphere of heightened social and political awareness, the number of applications to the Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Incubation Program (VIP) in the category of Social Impact, Educational and Cultural enterprise has been increasing. So it’s probably no surprise that they are being reviewed with an increasing level of rigorous scrutiny. If they want […]