The Long Island High Technology Incubator (LIHTI) recently hosted the Spring 2025 Stony Brook Venture Challenge, where 14 startups presented their business ideas to a panel of judges. The event is designed to identify promising ventures that could benefit from additional support to develop into successful businesses.
Andrew Wooten, executive director for LIHTI, expressed satisfaction with the strength of the venture pipeline at Stony Brook University and in the surrounding innovation ecosystem. "We run this challenge to identify high-potential ventures to receive more dedicated support for turning their concepts into successful businesses," he said.
Kevin Gardner, vice president for research and innovation at Stony Brook University, highlighted the importance of technology-based companies for economic prosperity. "The SBV Challenge is a great example of how Stony Brook focuses on getting new, innovative technology out of the laboratory and into society," he stated.
Michael Kinch, chief innovation officer at Stony Brook, emphasized the university's commitment to fostering innovation across Long Island. This year's challenge featured startups competing in Health, Energy, and Information tracks. Four prizes were awarded: two in Health and one each in Energy and Information. Winners received $5,000 awards for commercialization activities along with continued support from LIHTI.
Shruti Sharma, associate director of Venture Development for LIHTI, noted the value of the pitch competition as a tool for identifying potential ventures. "Through the SBV Challenge, we gain valuable insights into both the technologies and the founders behind them," she said.
In Health track awards went to TeraHertz PHASER and Mission-Driven Tech. Hassan Arbab invented TeraHertz PHASER scanner aimed at medical imaging innovations. Mission-Driven Tech seeks advancements in cervical cancer care; its CEO Eve McDavid discussed modernizing treatment methods.
Canyon Magnet Energy won in Energy track with their work on rare-earth barium copper oxide magnets aimed at future energy solutions. Lyrai won in Information track with AI-powered acoustic simulations for architectural spaces.
Evgenii Boriushkin provided an update on Tropocan's progress since winning last year’s challenge; his company is developing therapies for brain tumors supported by findings from recent tests on mice.
Sharma concluded by thanking participants: "In just one month... there is already a lot of progress."