The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is proud to announce the winners of the AAAS Lab to Launch Competition for D.C. science and tech entrepreneurs.
- 1st Place with a prize of $5,000: Marc Connell, Co-Founder, BioMap Explorer I
- 2nd Place with a prize of $3,000: Andrew King, Co-Founder, PhareTech
- 3rd Place with a prize of $2,000: Matthew Mullin, Founder and CEO, Sand Scan
Lab to Launch was created by AAAS’s Research Competitiveness Program to identify and support promising young innovators by providing training, networking opportunities, and seed capital prizes. Earlier this year, entrepreneurs from across the District of Columbia submitted applications and pitch videos describing their business plans and technical innovations. After merit-review by panels consisting of scientific and entrepreneurship experts, six entrepreneurs were selected to advance to the public Lab to Launch Finals on April 18.
At the finals, five local innovation and entrepreneurship experts were invited to judge the finalists’ pitches: Scott Baldwin, Senior Staff Attorney, US Patent and Trademark Office; Lisa Cuesta, Vice President of Investments, NextGen Venture Partners; Anjali Kataria, CEO, Mytonomy; Tiffany Norwood, Founder and CEO, Tribetan; and G. Nagesh Rao, Chief Technologist and Senior Policy Adviser, Office of Innovation and Technology, U.S. Small Business Administration.
Each entrepreneur had four minutes to pitch their idea or early-stage startup, followed by four minutes of questioning from the judges. The final pitches were scored based on the proposed project’s suitability, significance, innovation, strength of technology, market assessment, business strategy, team expertise, and the overall quality of the presentation.
If you are interested in learning more about the Lab to Launch program please visit https://www.aaas.org/rcp/LabtoLaunch or email RCPInnovation@aaas.org.