Kailey Shara, ATLAS PhD student and a member of the Emergent Nanomaterials Lab,听won $17,500 from three CU Boulder business competitions, including听New Venture Challenge 14, for Chembotix, a startup offering a chemical automation robot to accelerate听chemistry research and the discovery of new molecules.听
Shara won first place at the NVC14 ($5000) and the NVC14 Championship Audience Choice Award ($1000). She also secured two first-place wins associated with CU Boulder's New Venture Launch class ($11,500) taught by Jeff York, associate professor in the Leeds School of Business, and funded by the .
"For a fully remote team that was almost entirely assembled during the pandemic, it's an exciting moment for us to see our work starting to pay off," Shara said. "Chembotix is based on my PhD work at the ATLAS Institute, so this win also helps to validate a problem I care deeply about鈥攚idespread adoption of laboratory automation.鈥�
The prize money听will be used to听pay for materials to finalize the team's听prototype hardware, she said.
Through Chembotix, Shara is developing a robotic automation platform to dramatically speed up chemistry research and development. Shara鈥檚听laboratory automation research is the premise for the company, and Shara is the company's CEO. 听
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Kailey Shara
The company听has received support from VEX Robotics, and CU Boulder students are assisting with mechanical, electrical and software听engineering. Chembotix's听first provisional patent is in progress with Venture Partners and a second is on the way.听
This is Shara's second time as an听NVC participant: Last year she and her advisor, Carson Bruns, made it to the semifinals.听This year her team has expanded to include eight teammates and three听advisors, Robert听Dobkin, founder of the Intuitive Foundation, Kevin Noble, founder of Red Rock Rebels, and Bruns.
For 14 years, the New Venture Challenge听has been CU Boulder鈥檚 premier, cross-campus entrepreneurial program and competition, giving aspiring entrepreneurs the chance to build a startup through outstanding support and mentorship. Participants represent majors and departments from across the university.听
NVC connects the CU Boulder campus with the Boulder community to develop and fund innovative ideas. Participants attend year-round events, network and collaborate with mentors to refine their ideas and form startup teams to pitch for funding (up to $100,000!) at the NVC Championships.
The goal of the New Venture Launch class is to translate an existing product, service听or opportunity into a real, functioning venture. Over the course of the semester, New Venture Launch teams have been competing for more than $25,000 in non-equity funding. The Robert & Kathleen Dobkin Intuitive Foundation, which is providing the funding, pairs up 鈥測oung, bright entrepreneurs in business and science to help them achieve greatness together.鈥�
Shara emphasized that she hopes her success will inspire more women to enter entrepreneurship. 鈥淭here are many brilliant women out there who can and will achieve great things through their work,鈥� she said. 鈥淎lways put yourself out there. You never know when an idea in a lab can become something more.鈥�
ATLAS students who have successfully competed in past NVCs听include the team co-led by Cody Candler, MS-CTD '20, and Ruhan Yang, MS-CTD student, winning fourth place and taking home $12,500 in NVC 12. Ted Thayer, MS-CTD student, and two team members won fourth place and $7,500 at the NVC 11.听
