From Validation to Growth: The Ventures Lab at Year Four

Lehigh's Ventures Lab isn't where ideas are born — it's where they grow into fully formed companies.

"We work alongside Baker programs, which are designed around education, exploration, and early-stage support," said Director Michael Rinkunas ’02 M’08 at the 2026 Innovate! Celebrate! Award Ceremony, "Ventures Lab picks up from there, supporting teams after initial validation with directed, tailored support focused on their specific goals, gaps, and next milestones."

The Lab runs two core programs: Founders Forge, a part-time program helping students and faculty de-risk ideas and move toward venture formation, and the Milestone Accelerator, a full-time program for ventures with traction working toward growth, scale, and repeatable success. Both provide targeted grants, hands-on coaching, and access to the people and resources founders need to move forward.

Four years in, the numbers tell a clear story. Since launching in 2022, Ventures Lab has supported 41 teams — including 18 active teams in the past year alone — generating 89 roles, with 68% of those ventures still active today. Teams have gone on to raise over $5.25 million in follow-on funding, with 3 exits to date and an overall 12x return on invested capital.

This year's showcase featured four ventures at very different stages of that journey:

• Unchain | Taizo Harada '28: An AI-driven platform that has already achieved enterprise sales, raised capital internationally, and reached the finals of the Rice Business School competition — the first Lehigh team ever to do so.

• Offline Wine | Sarah Mack '14: Building at the intersection of consumer behavior and the alcohol market, Mack is refining her go-to-market strategy as she prepares for fundraising.

• Atano | Jake Zebaida '20: An AI platform streamlining healthcare credentialing. Zebaida has tripled sales in the past 90 days and is now focused on building a scalable model ahead of a future capital raise.

• Splink | Justin Hassenfeld '19: A Ventures Lab graduate and active scaler, Hassenfeld has secured over $1 million in funding and is actively growing the business.

"What you're seeing across these teams is progression," Rinkunas said. "Founders moving beyond idea to execution, from validation to growth. The goal is simple: more ventures, moving faster, with a higher probability of success."