Vanderbilt’s Wond’ry home to new incubator named Launch
The Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Center for Innovation, has opened an incubator space called Launch, which is dedicated to start-ups affiliated with local universities.
The new initiative is designed to support pre-seed and seed stage venture founders in a wide array of sectors — from healthcare to the arts — and business models, including social ventures and benefit corporations.
According to this news release, Launch will house Vanderbilt’s Founder program. It is a six-month to year-long initiative that connects local entrepreneurs to investors, provides support from the Wond’ry’s entrepreneurs in residence and Wond’ry Mentors, and offers guidance for applying to the National Science Foundation I-Corps program as well as for Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding.
Launch is opening with seven Vanderbilt-connected venture teams already in place including: (1) Arms Cyber, a cybersecurity start-up that recently won a $750,000 Phase II STTR grant from the U.S. Air Force; (2) EndoShunt, a medical device start-up created by two Vanderbilt undergraduates who are also training to make the U.S. Olympics team for speed rock climbing; (3) Radical Shoots, an urban farm selling its microgreens at farmers markets across Nashville; and (4) Zeno Power, a company founded by two Vanderbilt alumni to provide a power source for heat or electricity in extreme environments.
The Launch space provides ventures with access to dedicated furnished office space, a shared kitchen, outdoor space, conference rooms, a mailing address, limited storage, storage/locker capacity, and Wi-Fi.
