Dinner with the Prime Minister of Monaco

I was selected as 1 of 5 entrepreneurs from around the world for an all-expense paid trip to present at The Edge Monaco, Monaco’s new tech conference. The conference was incredibly well put on with speakers including Prince Albert.This was my first time to Europe-I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction!

I also felt incredibly lucky to have been able to hang out and explore the city with the founders of Innocent Drinks (the leading smoothie seller in Europe), who recently sold their company to Coca Cola. At the conference, I got to meet with the founder and CEO of EasyJet (the largest UK airline) who is a very funny and inspiring man.

Many thanks to the Monaco Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (MVCA) and the International University of Monaco for this incredible conference.

Dinner with the Prime Minister of Monaco at his house/mansion/palace

The incredible view from the balcony in my hotel room

Fireworks playing at night right outside our hotel on the water!

Standing on the balcony of the Prime Minister’s home with a great view of Monaco behind me.

Listening to Prince Albert speak at the conference.

The main conference room where the speakers presented

Speaking on stage

Winner at CES’s LaunchFest Startup Pitch Competition

Enplug won the Consumer Electronics Show’s LaunchFest Startup Pitch Competition! Thank you Angel Launch for hosting this fun event. We competed against 8 other great startups ranging from a kickstarter for films to a carsharing company. I really enjoyed meeting the founders of these companies, who came from all parts of the US.

Thanks Haas!

Thanks Haas for featuring an article about Nanoly’s prize at the Intel Global Challenge!

1st Place at Intel Global Challenge

Nanoly Bioscience, the biotech company I founded in college, won 1st place in Social Innovation at the Intel Global Challenge on November 5-8! Nanoly develops polymers that enable vaccines to survive without refrigeration. The week-long competition was held at UC Berkeley and the Intel Headquarters in Santa Clara. Nanoly was selected to represent the USA in this challenge. There were 28 teams competing representing countries from Russia to Mexico to Bulgaria to China.

As a student at UC Berkeley, I would see banners for the Intel Challenge around campus each year. I always dreamed of being a part of the competition and being selected to represent the US. It was such a joy and honor when I found out we were chosen earlier this year!

Thank you Intel for this incredible opportunity to meet fellow entrepreneurs from around the globe!

My badge + the competition booklet with descriptions of all the teams and bios of the judges.

Banner for the Intel Global Challenge at the Haas School of Business.

On stage presenting in the finals at Anderson Auditorium at UC Berkeley

We won 1st Place in Social Innovation and The Audience Choice award

We’re Named Top 10 in NASA’s Competition for New Technology for Space!

My biotech startup, Nanoly Bioscience, is a Top 10 finalist for NASA’s $110K Award for businesses creating new technology that will benefit space. It’s been more than exciting that a project I started with my friend last year has been recognized by NASA!

It has been an incredible journey with the Nanoly team. I don’t think any of us realized, when we first started theorizing our technology solution, that it could be so transformative-let alone something that NASA might use. Hopefully, this demonstrates how important it is to always Think Big!

A collaboration between NASA and The Space Frontier, The NASA New Space Frontier Competition recognizes entrepreneurs developing supporting, problem-solving, and game-changing technologies for the space industry.

Dell Social Innovation Challenge: The Awards Presentation

Nanoly won 3rd place overall out of 1,800 teams and we won the Audience Choice Award! Thank you Dell, The University of Texas, and Silverback Enterprise Group for hosting this incredible global event!

The Award Show Venue in Austin, Texas! It’s gorgeous!

Me pitching Nanoly!

3rd place overall!

We won the Audience Choice Award, where people in the audience and online voted for their favorite project. Thanks everyone!

Standing next to the Nanoly billboard at the award show. This was such a cool poster! Wish I could take it home with me. Maybe I can convince Dell to send it to us…

Our team!

The Dell Social Innovation Challenge Journey: The Beginning

What an absolute thrill this past week has been for Nanoly, a company that started out as a fun project my friend Balaji and I wanted to do because of our passion for global health. We found out that Nanoly was selected as 1 of 5 finalists out of 1,800 projects for the Dell Social Innovation Challenge. Dell flew us out to Austin, Texas for the final event where we stayed at the gorgeous W Hotel. Our schedule was packed! Here are the highlights from the week! Thank you Dell and the organizers for making this such a phenomenal experience for us!

Day 1

After checking into the incredibly beautiful W Hotel, Dell surprises us with a gift package complete with a new digital camera and extra spending money!

I didn’t get a picture, but we also had dinner with John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods! He’s such an inspiration!

Day 2

Lunch with the founder of Texas Disposal Systems

Petting a rhino at the Texas Disposal Systems headquarters. They have a mini-zoo inside the landfill! How crazy is that?!

My first time feeding a giraffe! The giraffe lives on the Texas Disposal System property, right next to the landfill!

Target shooting clay disks! Beginner’s luck: I got 1 for 1

Day 3

Video/Photo Profile

Interview with Youth Radio

With the team getting ready to pitch Nanoly in the final round!

Another video interview for Nanoly!

Day 4

And still more video interviews!

Speaking on a panel about social entrepreneurship

Meeting Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell

1st place at the VC Taskforce’s Life Sciences Investor Pitch

Nanoly received 1st place at the Life Sciences Investor Pitch competition hosted by VC Taskforce! At the event, we showcased the strength of our company’s social innovation and global impact on improving vaccine access.

Dell Social Innovation Challenge Finalist!

Nanoly is 1 of 5 finalists selected out of over 1,500 submissions for the Dell Social Innovation Challenge. I couldn’t be more excited!

Dell’s Social Innovation Challenge aligns precisely with Nanoly’s social mission. Our team is motivated by our goal to bring vaccines to places in the world that traditionally do not receive proper immunization access. This competition is an incredible opportunity for Nanoly to demonstrate our global impact!

The finalist competition is in Austin, Texas from June 8-13. My teammate Peter and I will be traveling to Austin to present to a panel of judges. We’ll keep you updated!

Need your help! Click below to vote for Nanoly

Woohoo!! We were selected as 1 of 5 semi-finalists in Duke’s Start-Up Challenge in 3 different categories: Healthcare/Life Sciences, Undergrad-led startup, and woman-led startup.

PLEASE take 2 seconds and click on the link below to vote for NANOLY in each of the three categories we are semi-finalists for:

• Best Healthcare/Life Sciences startup: 
  http://www.facebook.com/questions/10150904088787785/
  
• Best Undergraduate Student-Led startup: 
  http://www.facebook.com/questions/10150904081652785/
  
• Best Woman-Led startup: 
  http://www.facebook.com/questions/10150904079627785/
  

Thank you so much! It means so much to our team to have your support!