VERI Nano Receives Platinum Award at 2020 MassChallenge Ceremony
Top Prize Among Boston-Based Startups
Boston, Mass. (October 22, 2020) VERI Nano announced today that the company received a Platinum Award, a cash prize of $75,000, at the 2020 MassChallenge Awards Ceremony; one of the most prestigious and competitive startup competitions in the world. Due to the pandemic, the award ceremony was held virtually and VERI Nano was awarded the top monetary prize among Boston-based startups in front of more than two thousand attendees for its novel approach in the prevention and treatment of bovine mastitis.
Veri Nano is an innovative bionanotechnology company that is creating the future by designing novel nanotechnologies that are being applied to multiple industries such as human and animal medicine, agriculture and cosmetics. By using different types of biomaterials as building blocks, we have fabricated diverse types of novel systems such as nanoengineered hydrogels, nanosized molecular delivery systems, and nanocomposite materials.
The core members of the VERI Nano team consist of: Co-Founders Samson Afewerki, PhD, Joseph Bonventre MD, PhD, Nathan Lee, PhD, Guillermo U. Ruiz-Esparza, MD, PhD, and team leaders, Lauren Fish and Ketian Zhang, PhD. “We are so very honored to receive the 2020 Platinum MassChallenge Award,” said Cofounder Guillermo U. Ruiz-Esparaza, MD, PhD, FRSA. “We thank our mentors, families, friends and MassChallenge for all the support during the last four months.”
The VERI Nano team plans to use the prize money to scale the business, as well as for regulatory and marketing costs. MassChallenge, the global network for innovators, awarded 17 total, equity-free cash prizes to the top startups in its 2020 Boston early-stage accelerator.
“Congratulations to the latest cohort of MassChallenge award recipients, each having shown resilience in the face of this year’s unique challenges due to the pandemic, and a commitment to innovation in their respective sectors,” said Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. “As the Commonwealth looks to economic recovery, as well as the continued fight against COVID-19, MassChallenge continues to be a partner in supporting entrepreneurs, encouraging creativity and driving innovation leadership.”
“I am incredibly proud of our startups and the community that supported them during this year’s accelerator. As we embarked on our first virtual program, we knew we had to work smarter to create meaningful engagements on all sides of the table,” said Cait Brumme, Managing Director of MassChallenge Boston. “And because of that support, our startups thrived: while building their companies, our cohort raised $68M in funding, generated $20M in revenue, and created 504 jobs.”
In June, MassChallenge Boston welcomed 100 startups from 12 countries and 20 states to its first-ever virtual accelerator. The MassChallenge program connects startups with the resources, partnerships, and communities that help them launch, grow, and scale their businesses. Specifically, startups benefitted from bi-weekly sessions with top speakers like Niraj Shah (CEO, Wayfair), Brian Halligan (CEO, HubSpot), Kirk Arnold (EiR, General Catalyst), Deb Benton (Willow Growth Partners), more than 100 hours of tailored workshops, direct access to over 200 mentors, and access to MassChallenge’s global corporate partner network.
To close out the 2020 cohort, MassChallenge Boston and its partners awarded $500,000 in prizes to top startups during the MassChallenge U.S. Virtual Awards on October 22, 2020. MassChallenge Boston partners FM Global, Innospark Ventures, and The Quin presented sidecar awards worth $120,000 during the event; additional equity-free cash prizes will be awarded through the end of 2020. The MassChallenge U.S. Virtual Awards brought together more than 2,000 viewers for a livestream event to celebrate the transformative power of entrepreneurship. In total, MassChallenge and its partners awarded more than one million in cash and investment prizes to 34 startups from this year’s Austin, Boston, Houston, and Rhode Island accelerators. The event was hosted by Chris Denson of Innovation Crush, and featured a fireside chat between Arianna Huffington (Founder and CEO, Thrive Global) and Linda Pizzuti Henry (Managing Director, Boston Globe).
ABOUT MASSCHALLENGE
MassChallenge is the global network for innovators. Headquartered in the United States with seven locations worldwide, MassChallenge equips bold entrepreneurs to disrupt the status quo and to create meaningful change. Since launching in 2009, more than 2,400 MassChallenge alumni have raised more than $6.2B in funding, generated more than $3B in revenue, and created more than 157,000 total jobs. Learn more about MassChallenge at masschallenge.org.
ABOUT VERI NANO, INC.
Veri Nano is an innovative bionanotechnology company emerged from world-renowned experts, innovators and serial entrepreneurs trained at Harvard Medical School and MIT. We are creating the future by designing novel nanotechnologies that could be applied to multiple industries such as Human and Animal Medicine, Agriculture and Cosmetics. By using different types of biomaterials as building blocks, we have fabricated diverse types of novel systems such as nanoengineered hydrogels, nanosized molecular delivery systems, and nanocomposite materials. The startup was selected for its novel approach in the prevention and treatment of bovine mastitis.
MEDIA CONTACT
Lauren Fish
Head of Marketing and Operations
Lauren@verinano.com
857-222-7477