December 4 marked the final day of the 10-week long Rainforest
Accelerator fall 2023 cohort. Administered by UNM Rainforest Innovations, the program brings together teams of entrepreneurial-minded faculty and students to go outside of their laboratories and into the marketplace where they can learn first-hand about entrepreneurship while they go through the market discovery process for their innovation.
Each team includes a UNM faculty member and/or students, entrepreneurs, and mentors (provided by the Rainforest Accelerator). They receive $3,000 in seed-funding to support market discovery efforts and proof-of-concept prototyping and learn how to determine value propositions, customers, size of market, and market trends for their respective technologies.
The outcomes of program projects include a recommendation based on an assessment of the viability of the overall business model and substantial first-hand evidence for or against product-market fit, with a definition of the customer segments and corresponding value propositions.
The teams that participated in the fall 2023 cohort included:
- Epsilon Secure Home Solutions – developing a mechanism that reinforces or replaces broken window and patio door locks.
- Eterna Biotechnology – Target the diseases of aging by developing a virus-like particle vaccine to target senescent cells.
- Ultrafast Aluminum Battery – leverages the advantages of aluminum ions as charge carriers
- Williams Illumination – developing a smart full motion motorized TV wall mount.
- Get Happy – a mobile that app that helps local residents find happy hour food and drink deals as well as allowing them to create their own happy hour meetup.
UNMRI is currently accepting applications for the spring 2024 cohort! The deadline to apply is January 19, 2024. To learn more and sign up, visit http://loborainforest.com/rainforestaccelerator/