The Harvard Innovation Labs today announced that 25 ventures received $900,000 in capital from the Allston Venture Fund and Social Impact Fellowship Fund during the 2019-2020 academic year.
“We’re constantly exploring ways to more effectively nurture innovators from across the University, and one resource that students consistently need is capital to support ventures at their earliest stages,” said Matt Segneri, Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Executive Director of the Harvard Innovation Labs. “Thanks to the generous support from the Allston Venture Fund and Social Impact Fellowship Fund, Harvard students from across the University now have access to early-stage capital that can help them move their ventures forward.”
The Allston Venture Fund is an investment collaborative focused on providing both pre-seed funding and equity-free grants to ventures led by Harvard students. The Social Impact Fellowship Fund provides grants to impact-driven ventures. Launched in 2019, the Allston Venture Fund and Social Impact Fellowship Fund will distribute $7 million in investments and grants to ventures led by Harvard students through 2024.
During the 2019-2020 academic year, the Allston Venture Fund and Social Impact Fellowship Fund awarded a total of $900,000 in investments and grants to Harvard teams. Funding recipients include:
Allston Venture Fund
Adventures Robotics | Maya Burhanpurkah, Harvard College
- Developing an autonomous power wheelchair for people with severe physical disabilities.
Aikili Biosystems | Jouha Min, Harvard Medical School; Laura Kelly, Harvard Business School and Blavatnik Fellow
- Providing a low cost, automated, accurate diagnosis at the point-of-care for breast cancer patients who lack access to effective diagnosis.
Breen Technologies | Mollie Breen, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Harvard Business School
- Targeting and mitigating device-specific vulnerabilities to maintain device functionality even after end of support and end of life.
Concerto Biosciences | Adil Bahalim, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Cheri Ackerman, Broad Institute
- Building custom microbial combinations to accomplish novel functions in agriculture and human health.
Immigrants Like Us | Mary Gao, Harvard College
- A legal-tech nonprofit preparing immigration documents for free.
Kinnos | Kevin Tyan, Harvard Medical School
- Empowering people to disinfect surfaces with confidence and to provide society with peace of mind through disinfection you can see.
Umbulizer | Shaheer Piracha | Harvard Medical School; Sanchay Gupta, Harvard Business School and Harvard Medical School
- Building a reliable and low-cost device that can provide continuous ventilation to patients.
Veri Nano | Guillermo Ruiz, Harvard Medical School
- Designing novel nanotechnologies that could be applied to multiple industries.
Social Impact Fellowship Fund
1Room | Jeremy Bhatia, Harvard Kennedy School
- Making education accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Coding it Forward | Chris Kuang, Harvard College; Ariana Soto, Harvard College
- Empowering the next generation of technology leaders to create social change.
Debate Spaces | Matt Summers, Harvard Law School
- Using debate to foster activism and connect middle school students from around the Greater Boston area.
DreamworldVR | Jean Jung, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Combating loneliness and helping to develop emotional and social intelligence for isolated pediatric patients using immersive Virtual Reality (VR) technology.
GOViral | Jisaka van der Reest, Harvard Medical School
- Finding patients and connecting communities to care to help eradicate Hepatitis B in the Philippines.
HumanID | Bastian Purrer, Harvard Business School
- A Single Sign-On solution enabling platforms to block bots and abusive users, and protecting users’ data from leaks and abuse.
Loo Works | Samlara Baah, Harvard Kennedy School
- Using recycled plastics and waste to create prefabricated toilet systems for the poor, saving lives.
New Voters | Jahnavi Rao, Harvard College
- 100% voter registration and readiness in all U.S. high schools through a college mentorship program.
Nutrifull | Garyk Brixi, Harvard College
- Providing malnutrition treatment and prevention products to reach more children and support local development.
ReadToMe | Drew Madson, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Steven Askar, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Listening to students read books / articles aloud, coaching students, and providing data for teachers and parents.
Shamiri Institute, Inc. | Katherine Venturo-Conerly, Harvard College; Tom Osborn, Harvard College
- Helping youth with depression and anxiety thrive, improving mental health, grades, and friendships.
Shamsina | Sarah Mousa, Harvard Kennedy School
- Creating affordable solar technologies for all.
Tang | Rebecca Kersch, Harvard Kennedy School
- A mobile app allowing Filipino overseas workers to send money home and the receiver to use the same app to e-pay.
The Apprentice Project | Monica Pesswani, Harvard Graduate School
- Building 21st century life skills and socio-emotional skills by using co-curricular activities as a medium.
Trill Project | Georgie Messinger, Harvard College
- An anonymous social networking mobile application that is supportive.
Village | Nicole Ivey, Harvard Business School
- Catalyzing women’s advancement by building community spaces anchored in daycare that centralize family and childcare.
Wala Digital Health | Dennis Addo, Harvard Kennedy School
- A digital blood service modernizing the process of going from volunteer donors to those needing transfusions.
