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ABOUT THE WOLFF NEW VENTURE COMPETITION

The Wolff New Venture Competition features pitches by the top startups coming out of UConn each year. The legwork for the competition begins in March, where 10 startups are selected by an independent panel to participate in the CCEI Summer Fellowship Program. Here, CCEI works to strengthen the support for the university's top entrepreneurial teams and take them beyond concepts and towards market readiness.

After this eight-week accelerator, the teams present their final pitches, and the top startups are selected to compete in the Wolff New Venture Competition; chosen on a basis of venture viability and value-added to the market. A panel of judges then awards over $50,000 in funding!

Congratulations to Feel Your Best Self, the 2023 Wolff New Venture Competition Winner!

Feel Your Best Self, led by Sandy Chafouleas PhD (Faculty, Educational Psychology, NEAG) and Emily Wicks (Staff, Ballard Institute of Puppetry, SFA), offers caregivers fun, easy-to-use products to help kids build emotion-focused coping skills to calm themselves, catch their feelings, and connect with others.

PREVIOUS FINALISTS:

THE WOLFF NEW VENTURE COMPETITION IS PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY:

The Wolff Prize is endowed through the Thomas John and Bette Wolff Family Fund in Strategic Entrepreneurship, established to provide leadership for teaching and research in the field of strategic entrepreneurship. The Wolff family has a long tradition of business success, personal philanthropy, commitment to the University of Connecticut, the UConn Business School, and the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. We are grateful for the support of Thomas John (1928-2008) and Bette and their three children Greg, Gary, and Debi.

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Alycia Chrosniak
Assistant Director of Brand & Venture Development
alycia.chrosniak@uconn.edu