Daugherty Centennial Campus Entrepreneurial Initiative

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The Daugherty Centennial Campus Entrepreneurship Initiative, named in honor of Mr. Richard L. Daugherty, Retired Vice President of IBM and current Kenan Institute trustee, and his wife Marlene Daugherty, supports the enhancement of the entrepreneurial environment on Centennial Campus at NC State University. This provides early-stage capital necessary for NC State-based startup companies to launch, engage the region’s entrepreneurship, ecosystem, and leverage state and federal sources of capital to grow their enterprise and commercialize their licensed technology. The 2023 Daugherty Initiative track at the NC State eGames supported three awards including two first-place winners and took place on April 13, 2023.

The 2023 Daugherty Initiative awardees are as follows:

  • 1st Place – $25,000 – Hoofprint Biome is developing a probiotic yeast to eliminate methane emissions from cattle by secreting methanogen-degrading enzymes.
  • 2nd Place – $15,000 – Vetletics is developing an equine pneumatic compression system – the EQ-Press to aid in lymphatic fluid circulation during tissue recovery post-injury and exercise.
  • 3rd Place – $10,000 – SelSym Biotech is developing a platform technology termed “Hemostatic Healing Hydrogels (H3),”  which is a targeted particle-based system homes to augments the body’s natural blood clotting system, addressing a pressing clinical and military need in bleeding control.

Since 2008, the Daugherty Initiative has invested $518,847 in 48 companies with 71% of the companies still in business. Cumulative follow-on funding received by the awardees since 2008 is over $58 million. 2022 Daugherty Initiative first place awardee Vizma Life Sciences received a $50K grant from NC IDEA, $1,175,000 from two NIH SBIR grants, and $75K from the One North Carolina Fund matching program through the NC Board of Science and Technology. 2022 Daugherty Initiative second place awardee Mammae Biosciences received support from the NC Biotechnology Center Industrial Internship Program. The Daugherty Initiative is managed by the NC State Office of Partnerships.