66 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2017
Connecticut Innovations Grows
Company Portfolio and Launches
Second Year of VentureClash
C
onnecticut Inno-
vations (CI), the
state's strategic
venture fund, will
once again award $5 million
in investments to winners
of its VentureClash global
competition. Finalists gain
access to a critical network
of customers, investors,
mentors and talent, all of
which help to speed the
companies to market. Indus-
try experts serve as judges
for the competition.
CI introduced the com-
petition in 2016 to entice
promising early-stage compa-
nies from around the world
to locate in Connecticut.
VentureClash invites entrants
in the high-tech categories of
digital health, financial tech-
nology, insurance technology
and the Internet of Things—a
broad category that includes
industrial applications useful
to Connecticut-based com-
panies such as Lockheed,
Hubble, United Technolo-
gies Corporation and Pitney
Bowes.
The first-place winner
receives a $1.5 million invest-
ment, two second-place
winners receive $1 million
investment awards, and up
to three third-place winners
receive $500,000 awards.
The 2016 competition
attracted nearly 200 entrants
from more than 20 countries,
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The VentureClash finals will
return to the Yale School
of Management on
October 20, 2017.
