HARTFORD–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Wednesday that the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI), the University of Connecticut’s entrepreneurship center, was named “Innovator of the Month” for its work to advance entrepreneurship in Connecticut. The center provides students, faculty, alumni, and military veterans with the necessary resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities to scale up their ideas, empowering entrepreneurs across the state to build sustainable businesses and make a positive impact.

“Entrepreneurship drives our economy forward. By connecting local entrepreneurs with the right tools, UConn’s CCEI helps hardworking people across Connecticut build and grow businesses that tackle our biggest challenges, create good-paying jobs, and invest in our future. I’m proud to recognize their contributions to our state, and I look forward to seeing their continued impact,” said Murphy.

“We couldn’t be more proud to be named Innovator of the Month by Senator Murphy,” said Jennifer Mathieu, Executive Director of CCEI. “CCEI’s mission is to provide programs and resources that drive entrepreneurial success and foster a vibrant startup ecosystem at UConn, throughout Connecticut, and beyond. By educating entrepreneurs and providing them the right tools, we strive to turn innovative ideas into thriving ventures. We offer a suite of programming that supports entrepreneurs at various stages and help to connect them to industry experts, funding sources, community partners, and others who can support next step opportunities. Ultimately it is through these collaborations that our entrepreneurs can launch products and new technologies that have the power to change the world.”

Formally established in 2007, the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) was the first organized center to support entrepreneurial activity at the University of Connecticut. Through programs that support local innovators through every stage of entrepreneurship, CCEI focuses on developing entrepreneurs to become leaders within their organizations. Since 2015, CCEI has supported more than 1,500 entrepreneurs and provided more than $2 million dollars in venture funding to over 1,100 startups. These businesses have gone on to raise more than $316 million dollars in follow-on funding. A few notable startups that have launched from CCEI are LambdaVision, which is working to restore functional sight to people with retinal degenerative diseases; Veradermics, which is developing a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics for prevalent dermatologic conditions; and Feel Your Best Self, which has built a toolkit to help children learn simple, emotion-focused coping strategies.

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies—the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.

###