KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 3, 2025 – The launch of the University of Rhode Island’s first-ever Tech Showcase marked a major milestone in its ongoing commitment to innovation, bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry partners for an evening of startup pitches, exhibitions, and cross-sector dialogue.

Held Sept. 23 at the Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering, the event spotlighted a growing ecosystem of campus-driven startups and showcased URI’s commitment to translating research into real-world impact. Over 120 attendees gathered to hear from University leaders and keynote speaker Jon Soderstrom, a national authority on tech transfer and innovation, who emphasized the critical role of leadership and collaboration in building successful innovation pipelines.

“Building entrepreneurial and startup ecosystems is a multi-year journey for academic institutions and URI is at the beginning of a journey that will transition innovative, cutting-edge technologies, and products into commercial enterprises,” said Soderstrom, who formerly led technology commercialization and faculty innovation at Yale University. “I was pleased to see the momentum from not only the founders, but also the growing ecosystem around them.”

The evening featured 10 dynamic startup teams—each rooted in URI research or alumni leadership—collectively seeking to raise over $100 million from investors. The lineup included ventures such as SWPT, Nereids, Kinesia Health, Juice Robotics, Audiance, pHLIP-ICG, eFlion Power Inc., and MindImmune Therapeutics, Inc.

Among them was pHLIP Technology, whose founder and CEO, Yana Reshenyak, highlighted the value of the event. “As pHLIP Technology continues to gain momentum in the market, the URI Tech Showcase allowed us to get in front of investors and start the conversations needed as we go out to raise capital for pHLIP Inc.’s subsidiary company, CleanMargin, Inc. We’re preparing for pivotal clinical trials and approvals in breast cancer.”

The showcase served as a powerful demonstration of the campus’ growing capacity to launch real-world ventures. Professor Arijit Bose, co-founder and chief scientific advisor of Audiance, reflected on the moment. “In my 43-plus years at URI, I don’t think I’ve come across an event like this, focused on startups and the translation of technology and science into the real world. I loved all the work I heard about.”

These ventures are part of a broader movement to foster innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. The showcase launched RI Startup Week, reinforcing URI’s role as a statewide hub for research commercialization.

“This event is just the beginning of an exciting 10-year innovation journey for us, with the goal of launching URI’s rich intellectual property and tremendous know-how out into the world by commercializing it, starting with this batch of startups,” said Pete Rumsey, chief business development officer with the URI Research Foundation. “Our big stretch goal will be to concierge at least two of these startups getting funded a year and continue to increase in numbers as we unearth all the great talent and IP at URI. Thanks to our growing URI innovation ecosystem, and our partnership with RI Hub, we have a proven cross-disciplinary team of very successful entrepreneurs and subject matter experts in place to execute and bring this vision to life at URI.”

“As long-time investors in and supporters of the URI ecosystem, we continue to be impressed with the research and entrepreneurial energy on campus,” said Thorne Sparksman of Slater Technology Fund, one of the event sponsors along with Rogue Venture Partners.

This inaugural event is part of a growing strategy to position URI as a leader in research-driven innovation, where faculty, students, and alumni are empowered not only to discover, but to innovate and bring impactful ventures to the state and world.