Celebrating a Year of Innovation Sprint Successes

This past year, MS in Innovation & Management (MSIM) students ran full speed ahead with their Innovation Sprint projects. Innovation Sprints are fast-paced, immersive team ventures in which students identify key problems, prototype solutions, and synthesize business and financial models that scale. While Sprints are a key component of the MSIM curriculum, they are also real business ventures that students can take on the competition circuit, seek funding for, and continue working on even after graduation.

Let’s take a look back at some of the inspiring ways MSIM students mobilized their passion and creativity to develop impactful Sprint ventures this past year:

CoraCare

CoraCare puts “your pet’s health in your hands” with prognostic tools to help pet owners give their companions the best life possible. The Sprint team gathered feedback on their product from petcare industry professionals at Animal Care Expo 2023, including meeting cat behaviorist and TV host, Jackson Galaxy.

Experiences like this proved invaluable for the team as they pitched their venture at competitions such as the Tufts $100k New Ventures Competition, hosted by the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, where the team reached the Semifinals in the Healthcare & Life Sciences track. After practicing their pitch and honing their business plan during the Tufts $100k, the team then advanced to the Finals of the 2048 Ventures Biotech Competition.

EcoView

EcoView combats climate change by offering a sustainable solution for land owners and managers to optimize their water, fertilizer and labor usage through an autonomous drone paired with a data cloud and surveying software to provide accurate readings of grass and soil health. Like CoraCare, EcoView sought feedback directly from industry professionals and attended the PGA Education Conference to speak with golf course owners about their business.

The hard work of the tight-knit EcoView team paid off at the Tufts $100k New Ventures Competition Finals, where the team took home 2nd place in the General Technology Track as well as a Cummings Property Credit Rent prize.

Lumilin Therapeutics

Lumilin Therapeutics seeks to achieve a new standard of diabetes care and management via technology developed in the Tufts research lab of Professor Emmanuel Tzanakakis that would automate insulin monitoring and release.

The team pitched their venture at multiple competitions after an extensive market research phase. Their competition tour began with a first place win in the Morgenthaler-Pavey Startup Competition (MSPC) Venture Track, hosted by the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University. The team's winning streak continued in the Skandalaris Venture Competition from the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis, where Lumilin was awarded Exploration Funding.

In addition to accolades like competition wins, MSIM students gain an invaluable wealth of practical experience from their Innovation Sprints. To learn what Innovation Sprints mean to our students, check out how MSIM students transform their innovative ideas into impact!

For more information about the MS in Innovation & Management, please visit our program page.