Hartford Business Journal

14 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 23, 2026 connections with Trinity College and the UConn Technology Incubation Program in Farmington. The company is also working with AdvanceCT, the nonprofit that leads the state's business recruitment and retention efforts, and Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state's quasi- public venture investment arm. CI Managing Director of Investments Douglas Roth helped Escape Velocity vet applications for the inaugural cohort. He said the organiza- tion adds another layer to the state's venture funding ecosystem. "The venture capital startup commu- nity and ecosystem is not generally competitive," Roth said. "All of the different moving parts can and should help each other." Roth noted that several acceler- ator-style programs that previously operated in Hartford — including the Hartford InsurTech Hub — are no longer active, creating space for new initiatives. Tim Miller, vice presi- dent of business devel- opment in life sciences for AdvanceCT, said Escape Velocity focuses on helping very early-stage founders who often struggle to secure funding, find customers and build visibility. There are "limited options" for early- stage entrepreneurs, Miller said. A critical catalyst Members of Escape Velocity's first cohort are already showing early traction. That includes Nathan Catapano's company, Swipestorm. Catapano, 23, got a part-time job at his hometown Chick-fil-A in Wallingford when he was 16. Four years later, using self- taught coding skills, he developed an app to track and resolve customer issues, replacing a clunky binder filled with handwritten notes. About 50 Chick-fil-A locations now subscribe to the "Resolve" app, gener- ating monthly revenue that allows Catapano to cover basic expenses. But the income hasn't been enough to significantly grow the business. Escape Velocity's investment is allowing him to shift focus to a more comprehensive platform called Huddle, which is designed to manage restaurant operations ranging from shift scheduling and task checklists to training and performance tracking. "Now I can fully focus on bringing Huddle to life and really changing the way restaurant teams operate," Catapano said. The $100,000 investment will be distributed over six months and paired with mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs. In exchange, Catapano agreed to give Escape Velocity roughly 7% ownership of his company. The first $25,000 installment arrived in early March. Catapano said he hopes to have a working version of Huddle within three months and enroll 50 to 60 restaurants by the end of the mentorship program in August. The funding will allow him to hire help with market research and development. Beyond funding SingleTimeMicroneedles, another company in Escape Velocity's first cohort, initially joined the program for the invest- ment funding. But the Farmington-based biotech startup has since attracted addi- tional backing, raising about $1.5 million mostly from angel investors, according to co-founder and CEO Jasdeep Singh. With financial pressure easing, Singh said the operational guidance and network-building offered through Escape Velocity may prove even more valuable. Building a biotech company requires navigating complex chal- lenges — including regulatory approval, manufacturing and hiring — that many startup programs don't address in depth. "The nuts and bolts is extremely hard," Singh said. Founded in 2022 by Singh and UConn professor Thanh Duc Nguyen, the startup is developing microneedle patches designed to deliver drugs, peptides and vaccines through the skin without the pinch of syringes or the need for refrigeration. The company is currently producing small batches of patches for testing, sampling and niche health-market sales. Eventually, the company hopes to secure approval to deliver more tightly regulated pharmaceutical treatments. Singh said a major manufacturing expansion is planned later this year. An equipment purchase from China could increase production from a few thousand patches per month to about 100,000 per month in the second half of 2026. "We expect to be, by the end of the year, fully operational on the manu- facturing side, which would increase our Connecticut headcount from 5 to about 15," he said. Originally based at UConn's Storrs campus, SingleTimeMicroneedles recently relocated to Farmington through UConn's Technology Incuba- tion Program, where it now operates multiple laboratories and offices. Escape Velocity's local focus is particularly valuable, Singh said, because it connects founders with regional resources. "This is the only program that I know of in the state that is really bringing an ecosystem together around founders," Singh said. "Rather than founders going into an ecosystem, they're bringing the ecosystem to us." Jasdeep Singh Douglas Roth Nathan Catapano Tim Miller From Invention Continued from page 13 www.borghesibuilding.com 2155 East Main Street, Torrington, CT 06790 860.482.7613 Check out our new website! © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. Building Ideas That Work... Building Ideas That Work... With an aractive design, we will present to your clients a comfortable, relaxing environment. For more than 80 years, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc has provided quality and reliability with design and energy efficient construction. PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: NORTHWEST HILLS JEEP — TORRINGTON

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