# Hillside Ventures

> Hillside Ventures is a VC fund in Storrs Mansfield backing Energy and EdTech. See 11 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Storrs Mansfield, United States
- Total investments: 11
- Last investment: Oct 2024
- Lead investor: 9%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hillside-vc/about/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/hillsidevc?lang=en
- Website: https://hillsideventures.uconn.edu/

Hillside Ventures is a VC fund in Storrs Mansfield focused on Energy and EdTech. Founded in 2020, Hillside Ventures is an early-stage venture fund supporting companies either founded by UConn alumni or that are in the sustainability, insurtech, or edtech industries. Hillside provides students real world venture capital experience as they invest into startups while receiving mentorship and guidance from a panel of expert alumni.The fund's mission is to support the rapid growth of entrepreneurship at the University, engage diverse personal and professional backgrounds, pave the way for students heading towards private capital and present many other opportunities that would otherwise not be available from the undergraduate level.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Hillside Ventures. Shizune tracks 4 team members at Hillside Ventures. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/hillside-ventures?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $723k–$3M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Energy | 3 | 27% |
| EdTech | 2 | 18% |
| CleanTech | 2 | 18% |
| Education | 2 | 18% |
| Sustainability | 2 | 18% |

37 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 6 | 55% |
| Series A | 2 | 18% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 9% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 1 | 9% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 9 | 82% |
| Canada | 1 | 9% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Claudio Santaniello | Managing Director of Relations | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/claudio-santaniello |
| Dhanush Kotumraju | Managing Director of Operations | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dhanush-kotumraju |
| Mason Kolean | Managing Director of Sourcing & Diligence | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mason-kolean |
| Maximilian Bollinger | Analyst - Manager Funding Platforms | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/maximilian-bollinger |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| EnviCore | EnviCore is a growing R&D company offering innovative and sustainable wastewater treatment solutions. EnviCore's developed technologies have the potential to introduce a step-change in the holistic approach of the mining tailings treatment. Providing a low cost and environmentally friendly alternative, coupled with the superior performanceand efficiency, which can change the adverse narrative associated with mining waste and its environmental impact and help mining operators achieve new resource developments more responsibly. | $3M | Seed | Oct 15, 2024 |  |
| Rebound Technologies | Rebound Technology is rethinking refrigeration through tailored, thermally-driven heat pump architectures that provide efficient, practical, and cost-effective global solutions. Its tailored development approach enables dramatic improvement over the one-size-fits-all, state-of-the-art by utilizing renewable resources, waste heat capture, energystorage, and simple, low-cost construction. Rebound is currently developing two unique and potentially transformative technologies. IcePoint is a refrigeration cycle with embedded thermal energy storage, designed to save supermarkets 60% on their low-temperature cooling costs. SunChill is an ultra-low-temperature thermal cycle, designed for developing world agricultural applications, to convert 50C solar thermal energy into 10C refrigeration using locally sourced materials. Each technology represents a departure from the one-size-fits-all energy approach of the 20th century and instead focuses on tailored technologies that solve smaller problems better. This path reduces the cost of renewable/efficient systems by at an order of magnitude while at the same time growing self-sustaining businesses that create jobs without reliance on government incentives. It is currently funded by US Federal Government research grants. | $759.2K | Series A | Jul 20, 2023 |  |
| Enviro Power | Enviro Power brings to market an innovative heating system. The SmartWatt Boiler technology platform is designed to generate close-to-zero cost electricity and provide backup power with the potential to reduce utility bills for millions of building owners while lowering its carbon footprint and enhancing grid resiliency. | $25K |  | May 12, 2023 |  |
| BioGreen360 | BioGreen360 is a provider of technology services for sustainable food waste solutions. It is self-contained, continual feed, aerobic, organic waste digester. This revolutionary system biologically converts organic waste into a dry, sterile, high-nutrient product suitable as a fertilizer additive, reducing the negative environmental impact and costsassociated with landfill dumping. BioGreen360 was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. | $3.9M | Venture - Series Unknown | May 01, 2023 |  |
| Good Wipes | Good Wipes products are engaged in cooling tea tree oil, peppermint, and ginseng ingredients made of plant-based materials for cool, convenient, and eco-friendly wipes that help to remove dirt, sweat, oil, and funk, allowing customers to nourish their skin without harsh chemicals. | $2M | Seed | Dec 01, 2022 |  |
| Lessonbee | Developer of an online learning platform for students in grades K-12 with supplemental digital health education curriculum. Lessonbee provides culturally relevant educational content that is designed to increase health knowledge and skills and inspire healthy living. The company's platform measures student health goals and school climate viaits proprietary HealthIQ analytics to recommend content from its ever-growing Content Library of self-paced classes, adaptive courses, and video-based lessons aligned to state and national health education standards, enabling personalized health education and social emotional learning for kids and teens at home and in school in classes across the curriculum. | $1.5M | Seed | Nov 01, 2022 |  |
| Natrion | Natrion is a developer of large-scale batteries used to generate efficient renewable energy. Its batteries are ceramic solid-electrolyte and source energy from solar and wind to manage power deployment for renewable energy storage that enable businesses to make solar power cost-effective for homes, farms, and the military.It was founded in 2018and is headquartered in Binghamton, New York. | $1.8M | Seed | May 25, 2022 |  |
| Intellispark | Intellispark helps schools to maximize student achievement through a data-driven, community-centered approach to student advising. Their team includes experienced education and technology leaders who are passionate about ensuring every child has the chance to make a difference. | $723K | Seed | May 01, 2022 |  |
| EnviCore | EnviCore is a growing R&D company offering innovative and sustainable wastewater treatment solutions. EnviCore's developed technologies have the potential to introduce a step-change in the holistic approach of the mining tailings treatment. Providing a low cost and environmentally friendly alternative, coupled with the superior performanceand efficiency, which can change the adverse narrative associated with mining waste and its environmental impact and help mining operators achieve new resource developments more responsibly. | $2.5M | Seed | Mar 01, 2022 |  |
| InfraClear | Infraclear is a transform infrastructure firm that has expertise in machine learning. Their business line of the sector includes power, air-transport, transportation, mining, natural resources, telecom, water, sanitation, social infrastructure, and agribusiness. |  | Series A | Mar 01, 2022 |  |

10 of 11 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Grimley Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/grimley-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Techstars](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/barclays-accelerator) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Blackhorn Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/blackhorn-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [CSN Inova Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/csn-inova-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater NY](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/harvard-business-school-alumni-angels-of-greater-ny) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Heidelberg Materials](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/heidelberg-materials) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## FAQ

### What does Hillside Ventures invest in?

Hillside Ventures invests primarily in Energy, EdTech and CleanTech startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 11 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Hillside Ventures's check size?

Hillside Ventures typically joins rounds of $723k–$3M at Seed. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Hillside Ventures participates in.

### How do I contact Hillside Ventures?

Public channels for Hillside Ventures include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Hillside Ventures?

The team at Hillside Ventures includes Claudio Santaniello (Managing Director of Relations), Dhanush Kotumraju (Managing Director of Operations) and Mason Kolean (Managing Director of Sourcing & Diligence). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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