Our annual Invention 2 Venture (I2V) Conference pulls together dynamic experts, academic researchers, students, entrepreneurs and business leaders from across Vermont and New England to talk about how to protect, develop and finance your ideas. They share resources, what's worked for them... and what can work for you.

Upcoming 2020 Conference -

The 15th annual I2V conference will be held Thursday, April 2nd. Please save the date!

We're excited to announce our keynote speaker this year will be University of Vermont President Dr. Suresh V. Garimella.

We anticipate registration open around March 9th, so please visit this page at that time to register for free.

 

 

2019 Conference

Our 2019 conference took place on Thursday, April 4, 2019.

Our keynote speaker was Kyle Clark, the founder of Beta Technologies, a two-year-old South Burlington startup that promises to change the face of aviation by building electric aircraft and recharging systems. A graduate of Harvard with a B.A. in Materials Science Engineering, Kyle's first startup, iTherm, was acquired by Dynapower where he directed engineering. He later founded Venture.co in Burlington and taught at UVM in his spare time. With a life-long passion for flight and entrepreneurship, it was almost inevitable that he would build a company around electric aircraft.

Thank you to all our sponsors, speakers and participants for a successful 2019 conference.

2019 UVM I2V Schedule

11:30 - Registration opens
12:30 - Welcome: Richard Galbraith, Vice President for Research
12:35 - Awards Ceremony: Corine Farewell, Director, UVM Innovations
1:00 - Keynote: Kyle Clark
2:00 - Rountable Discussions
4:00 - Mixer / Networking

2019 Roundtables

Roundtable 1: Elements of a Great Pitch Deck

Facilitators:  John Antonucci (Launch VT) and Sam Roach-Gerber (VCET)
What makes a pitch click? Bring your pitch and learn from your peers and these two experts how to improve yours!

Roundtable 2: SBIR/STTR Funding

Facilitators: Jeralyn Haraldson (UVM) and Kerry Swift (UVM)
What is SBIR/STTR and how does YOUR start-up access America’s largest equity-free Seed Fund?

Roundtable No 3. Finding the Money

Facilitators: Janice St Onge (VT Flexible Capital) and TJ Whalen (Fresh Tracks)
Ready to grow your tech start-up? Learn where and how to find the money to do so.

Roundtable 4: Spaces for Start Ups

Facilitators: Madeline Brumberg (Innovation Commons) and Robert Lair (HULA)
From co-working spaces to accelerators to your own space. Where do you find these places in Vermont and how do you access them?

Roundtable 5: Building your Team

Facilitators: Scott Johnstone (Packetized, VEIC) and Pamela Mackenzie (C2 Competitive Computing)
It’s all about the people. How do you find your people and build the team that will bring your technology to market?

Roundtable 6: Scaling Up a Vermont Start-Up

Facilitator: Geoff Robertson (VSJF)
Bringing a technology product to market takes growth beyond the initial start-up phase. How do you assess if your Vermont start-up is ready and how do you prepare for scale up.

Roundtable 7: iCorps

Facilitators: Shannon Sullivan (UNY ICorps Node) and Tony Frontera (Binghamton)
Come learn about the FREE iCorps program and how to connect with resources and education to help your technology take the leap into commercialization.

Roundtable 8: Corporate Legal and Financial Necessities for your Start-up

Facilitators: Mike Thomas (Dinse) and Jeff McMahan (Dinse)
Setting up your start-up? Come learn what legal and financial necessities you need to have and understand!

Roundtable No 9. Intellectual Property Primer

Facilitators: Kevin McGrath (DRM) and James Morris (WolfGreenfield)
Critical to any tech start-up is the advantage and protection provided by good solid intellectual property.

Roundtable No 10. Concept to Prototype

Facilitator: Andrew Mead (UVM)
For a hardware tech start-up, a prototype is critical to both fundraising and partnerships. Learn how take your idea to prototype.

Roundtable No 11. Vermont Resources for Vermont Start-Ups

Facilitators: Gwen Palako (Center for Women & Enterprise) and Sarah Kearns (VtSBDC)
Vermont has a huge network of resources for startups. Learn about them and share your favorites.

Roundtable No 12. Making your First Sales

Facilitators: Nick Grimley (ACCD) and Bonnie Reese (Reese Consulting)
You’ve got your product or technology – when and how do you start building out your customer base (earlier and more often than you think!)