26 Dec CAV/Mayo Center Collaboration

During the fall, we successfully launched a pilot program together with Darden’s Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management. Under the leadership and tutelage of Aaron Fernstrom (Director of the Mayo Center), CAV Angels co-chairs Jim Cheng and Rich Diemer and our own everyman and Entrepreneur-in-Residence Vinnie Mascia, we injected two of our locally based pipeline companies DataClassroom and Icarus Medical into a due diligence designed to give the pan-University student teams “boots on the ground” experience leading to investment recommendations being presented to the CAV Angels Executive Committee shortly after Thanksgiving.

DataClassroom, founded by Aaron Reedy and heretofore partially funded by the Jefferson Foundation, is an Ed-tech start-up that has developed and is currently marketing a STEM app that teaches students in grades 6-12 basic through advanced data analysis skills.

Icarus Medical, founded by Dave Johnson, has developed and launched sales of a cutting edge, proprietary scan-to-3D-print process to fabricate a lightweight, fitted, affordable knee brace (the Ascender) which unloads up to 50lbs of weight from the knee joint.

We will report out on the results of the project and actions taken by CAV Angels on these companies in the near future. In the meantime, you can see the students involved in the first CAV/Mayo Cohort above, grouped by team with educational backgrounds ranging from Col ’24 to Darden’s EMBA Class of ’20 and everything in between!