Texas Tech Accelerator Concludes with Pitches, New Name for Program, New Director

May 13, 2015

The Texas Tech Accelerator Program concluded Wednesday with Demo Day, where participants presented to an audience of venture capitalists, angel investors and business leaders.

The Accelerator program provides participants with the knowledge to launch startup companies based on technologies discovered and developed in research labs. The four-month program combines cutting-edge inventions with entrepreneurs, students, inventors, experienced mentors, collaborative office space and an intensive curriculum based on the Lean Startup Methodology to de-risk technologies and help move inventions closer to market.

The 2015 cohort began in January. Demo Day showcased three ventures:

• CryptCrate
  • Members: Weston Waldo, David Belachew, Yash Gajbhiye, Raj Domala and Lee Sander o
  • Inventors: Andy Wallace and Tim Roden o
  • CryptCrate's cloud security will cut development time and reduce risk to developers by providing a tool to easily add encryption to their applications and services.
• Nanovations
  • Members: Ryan Hillhouse, Kevin Koestler, Ryan McKee, Jacob Benator and Pradeep Attaluri
  • Inventor: Shiren Wang
  • Nanovations' component enhances the capabilities of energy storage devices allowing for a rapid charge rate and increased storage capacity.
• SepsiSure
  • Members: Peter McDonough, Michael Buckberry, Taylor McAlpine and Nathan Troppy
  • Inventor: Dimitri Pappas
  • Surviving sepsis requires immediate diagnosis. SepsiSure, by identifying sepsis in 20 minutes, saves lives and saves money for healthcare providers.

Audience members voted for the venture they would most likely invest money in. Nanovations and SepsiSure tied for the winning spot. Both teams were awarded a trip to the entrepreneurial hub of Denver, Colorado, where they have the opportunity to meet with additional potential investors.

Brothers Ben and Eric Kusin, founders of a portable clothing refresher called Reviver, attended the event and spoke about their own experiences starting a company and about their time on the ABC television show Shark Tank. The Kusins answered questions from the audience about the costs and benefits of being on television and shared advice about growing a business.

Demo Day also included the rollout of the newly branded accelerator, now called Kinetic Accelerator, Innovated by Texas Tech. Lisa McDonald was also introduced as the new director of the Accelerator.

The name was changed to better represent the function of the accelerator, which is to move intellectual property off the shelf and into the market.