Three outstanding teams presented innovative endeavors as part of the 2017 Lab to Market graduating cohort presentation.
The three teams – DiarIO, South 8 Technologies and GemiNice – pitched their products to a group of entrepreneurs, potential investors and Rady School of Management students, faculty and staff.
While in the Lab to Market program, students are given the opportunity to identify scalable new ideas that fill a market need and that add social and economic value. Throughout the two-year program, the sequence aims to educate entrepreneurial, growth-oriented managers for both emerging and established companies.
Del Foit, the instructor of the Lab to Market program, commented on the success of the graduating cohort.
“It has been personally rewarding to work with these teams for two quarters as they identified emerging opportunity space in underserved markets, ideated solutions, evolved their ideas and innovations into realistic and actionable business models, and developed go to market strategies that will capture the value of their underlying innovations,” Foit said. “Their energy, enthusiasm and dedication to make their innovation a reality was inspiring to observe. These teams, and their results, epitomize the Rady School of Management’s signature Lab to Market course sequence.”
Five esteemed panelists attended the event to offer advice and guidance to the budding ventures. Panelists included Robert Sullivan, Dean Rady School of Management; Greg Horowitt, co-founder of T2Venture Capital and an innovation system architect; Richard Campbell, a partner of Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves and Savitch; Jim Bixby, retired former CEO and chairman of SeQual Technologies; and Gioia Messinger, a tech entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Linked Objects.
Lab to Market teams
GemiNice
GemiNice is focused on developing aesthetic products that rejuvenate skin and slow the aging process through noninvasive topical Botox. The company’s approach does not use needles and is painless, as opposed to traditional wrinkle-reducing procedures currently used by dermatologists.
South 8 Technologies
South 8 Technologies has developed a breakthrough chemistry for batteries, allowing them to increase energy density at lower temperatures without compromising power. The South 8 Technologies team featured an engineering student from the Jacobs School of Engineering, as part of the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur – a partnership between the Rady and Jacobs Schools.
DiarIO
Diario is developing a wearable device paired with technology that enables children facing emotional and behavioral challenges to track and label their emotions throughout the day.
Lab to Market success
Since it began in 2005 Lab to Market has helped launch more than 130 companies. As it continues to evolve, Lab to Market is committed to working with students with diverse backgrounds, as well as developing partnerships across the campus.
“It’s rare for business and engineering schools to work together on the same campus,” Foit remarked. “But our partnership with the Jacobs School of Engineering proves that great things can happen when we work together.”
In addition to the successful Institute for the Global Entrepreneur integration, the graduating Lab to Market cohort also boasted the first lineup of all female-led companies.
Two panelists remarked that the 2017 graduating Lab to Market teams were the best yet, boasting both high quality pitches and commercializable products.
“I have been attending these pitches for the past few years,” Bixby said, “and these are by far the best pitches and ideas I’ve seen. I’m impressed with the high caliber of students and companies from this Lab to Market cohort.”
The 2017 Lab to Market cohort graduated from the Rady School of Management at a Commencement ceremony held on Sunday, June 18.