Cozad New Venture Challenge
2025
Transform Ideas Into Impact with Cozad
A Historic Year for Innovation at Illinois:
Cozad New Venture Challenge 2025 Winners
Read the Story
What’s the Cozad New Venture Challenge?
Join the Cozad New Venture Challenge to accelerate your idea! | All you need is an idea, and your idea can even change while participating throughout the program. Prototypes aren’t required. We'll help you advance your idea with mentoring, funding, and developing the skills you need to succeed.
Engage in an Interactive Learning Experience | Join dynamic workshops and receive immediate feedback from successful entrepreneurs, investors, and potential partners. Food provided.
Boost Your Career with Networking & Mentorship | Connect with mentors, coaches, and alumni who are ready to help you transform your impactful ideas into viable businesses.
Showcase Your Startup at Cozad Demo Day | Pitch your innovative startup at Demo Day and join us for the Finals event on campus this year!
Compete for a Share of $500,000+ in Funding | Accelerate your startup’s growth and fund your venture.
Specialty Prizes for Healthcare Innovation | We’re offering an additional healthcare resources with specialized mentoring and workshops and up to $50,000 in funding and prizes for projects dedicated to Rural Health, Sports Medicine, and Healthcare Innovation. Learn More.
2025 Cozad New Venture Challenge
Registration is now closed.
Cozad New Venture Challenge Success Stories
Co-founder & CEO
Sun King
COZAD PARTICIPANT 2007
Sun King raised $260 million in series D funding in 2022, the largest investment in the off-grid energy sector ever. Sun King operates the world's largest direct-to-consumer, pay-as-you-go solar distribution network.
We’ve provided our products to about 100 million people across Asia and Africa since 2007. We have 2,500 employees and 25,000 sales agents working today to distribute our products—to distribute not only basic solar lights, but also bigger solar systems that can power people’s whole homes. All of this was seriously made possible by the Technology Entrepreneur Center, and specifically by Andy Singer, helping to establish that entrepreneurial spirit in me as a student, and helping Sun King to get started.
Patrick Walsh
Allison Landis, COO
Top Tier Lessons
COZAD GRAND PRIZE WINNER 2023
Top Tier Lessons is an online platform that connects college student athletes with parents in the community looking for sports lessons for their kids. Led by Cara Bognar, D1 swimmer at UIUC, Top Tier Lessons leverages the new market opportunity provided by the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) bill that was passed in 2021. NIL refers to an individual's ability to capitalize on their right of publicity and to be compensated through third-party endorsements. Learn more from Sports Illustrated.
The Cozad New Venture Challenge has always represented the pinnacle of everything the entrepreneurship ecosystem at UIUC offers and stands for. We never would have imagined being able to win! This funding will help keep us on track to launch in another 20 schools and continue to inspire future generations of athletes. I’m grateful for how Cozad has supported me every step of the way.
Cara Bognar
Co-founder
Cast 21
COZAD FINALIST 2016
Cast21, which has raised a total of $2.4 million in funding, is a medical device company that produces a lighter, hygienic, waterproof, and comfortable cast alternative to a traditional plastic and fiberglass cast.
The Cozad New Venture Challenge was the first opportunity to look critically at our business. It was a great experience to get feedback from industry leaders and meet fellow entrepreneurs. We're still in touch with many of those people and continue to exchange ideas to keep our businesses thriving.
Ashley Moy
Co-founder
Natrion
COZAD GRAND PRIZE WINNER 2021
Natrion secured $2 million in seed funding in 2022. The clean energy startup develops solid-state lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery components for electric mobility and defense applications. In 2021, Natrion also secured significant funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, including a $200,000 Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) contract from the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division.
Going through the Cozad New Venture Challenge helped our team evolve considerably. What we learned helped us to not only win the Grand Prize, but continues to be essential in our everyday work as we raise capital, secure commercial pilots, and take Natrion to new heights.
Alex Kosyakov
Co-founder
Ascent Integrated Tech
PAUL COUSTON: COZAD PARTICIPANT 2017
Ascent Integrated Tech has received $2.5 million in venture funding and has booked $4.5 million in government contracts. Paul Couston is the co-founder of Ascent, which has developed a single screen dashboard to improve the safety of firefighters, special forces, SWAT teams, and hazmat teams. The startup provides actionable insights on the health, environment, and location of team members. Prior to Ascent Integrated Tech, Paul co-founded Optivolt Labs, a clean energy firm.
The Cozad New Venture Challenge helped me understand the importance of addressing the product’s market, how to price it, and the value my product was adding instead of just falling in love with the product itself and not thinking about the business aspects.
Paul Couston
Co-founder & CEO
Prenosis
COZAD 2ND PLACE WINNER 2014
Prenosis has raised $20 million in funding and secured a $4.3 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense. Prenosis provides a portfolio of decision support tools allowing physicians to understand an individual patient’s full immune profile and prescribe the optimal therapy faster by leveraging artificial intelligence.
Finding the right market and preparing the business plan for our medical device were some of the new challenges that we experienced while participating in the Cozad New Venture Challenge. We found that translating technology from the lab to the public space was both very challenging and very exciting.
Umer Hassan
Prenosis Co-founder
Founder & CEO
PSYONIC
COZAD GRAND PRIZE WINNER 2015
PSYONIC makes the Ability Hand, an advanced bionic hand with sensory feedback that was released nationally in 2021. The startup provides an affordable and accessible prosthesis with unique bionic abilities.
Co-founders
Trala
COZAD GRAND PRIZE WINNER 2017
Trala has raised a total of $15 million in funding and is revolutionizing the music education industry. Trala is a music app that teaches users how to play the violin. Founded in 2017, Trala gives real-time feedback with its proprietary audio processing technology. The app has been downloaded by more than 400,000 people from 193 countries.
Trala’s success is a direct result of the support from the UIUC entrepreneurial community. Shout out to the ECE department, the fine judges at the Cozad New Venture Challenge, iVenture Accelerator, Illinois Ventures, and every student who has been part of Trala.
Sam Walder
Founder
Mesh++
COZAD 2ND PLACE WINNER 2017
Mesh++ has raised $4.9 million in funding. The company bridges the digital divide by bringing WiFi anywhere with solar powered broadband nodes. The Chicago-based company is focused on bringing internet connectivity to rural and underserved communities.
$3.9M
Has been awarded in funding and prizes since 2000
235
Mentors and judges were involved in Cozad in 2024
4,000+
Students have participated in Cozad