VMS relies primarily on the financial support from our mentors, mentees, and friends.
With your gift, you will join other VMS donors, whose commitment to our fledgling businesses has helped drive innovation and fulfill MIT’s educational mission.
Ways you can support VMS
Check [Payable to MIT. Designated to Venture Mentoring Service #2730500]
Donor-Advised Fund [Payable to MIT. Designated to Venture Mentoring Service #2730500]
Meet our Donors
Donor Spotlight - Kent Zelle
A VMS entrepreneur on why he gives back:
"VMS was instrumental in helping me launch and grow my business as a solo founder, and I’m happy to be giving back. As an entrepreneur mentee, I benefited from the wisdom of an experienced "board" of VMS advisors, numerous VMS learning events, and expert office hours. I feel very fortunate to be part of the MIT community and am continuously amazed by the scientific innovation in the labs. I believe VMS is essential to bridge the gap between MIT’s cutting-edge research and successful, high-impact companies."
As the Founder and CEO of Nauset Rental, Kent leads a tech-enabled vacation rental management company based on Cape Cod, achieving profitable growth since its founding in 2014. He began his career in the consulting industry at Accenture and later joined a small firm as a Partner, helping to grow the company from 20 to 200 people and achieving two accretive exits. Kent spent two years as an Advanced Study Fellow at MIT, focusing on Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and was part of the four-person team that took a robotics startup to the semi-finals in the MIT 100k competition, which later became a well-funded startup out of the Harvard iLab. We thank Kent for his generous support!
VMS Founders Society
Securing the vision of our founders, Alec Dingee and Dave Staelin
The VMS Founders Society honors a select group of donors to the VMS Endowment Fund, whose leadership commitment helps to assure the future of our program and serves as a role model for others.
Gordon & Cathryn Baty
Jeffrey Bernstein
Susan J. Gray (Mrs. Alexander Dingee, Jr.)
Allan M. Green
Sherwin & Vivian Greenblatt
Steven and Carolyn Kelly
James Kemler
Roman Lubynsky & Karen Golz
Morton Meyerson
Silvio Micali
Donald Shobrys & Carol Aronson
Ellen Staelin
Ray Stata
Robert Stearns
Rajeev Surati
Charles & Margo Yie
Todd Zion
VMS Annual Donor Honor Roll
The MIT Venture Mentoring Service thanks the following donors for their generosity in Fiscal Year 2024 (July 2023—June 2024).
Endowment
Allan Green
Sherwin and Vivian Greenblatt
Ray and Maria Stata
Charles and Margo Yie
Demo Day 2024
Roman Lubynsky & Karen Golz
Akston Biosciences
Math Works
MIT Stex 25
Ray and Maria Stata
Operational Support
Jerry Ackerman
Carlton Aird
Roi Amszynowski & Catalina Araya Cohen *
Enrico Ancona
Anonymous
Gordon and Kate Baty
Afarin Bellisario
Jeffrey Bernstein
Paul Bosco
Kerry Bowie
Adele Bozza
Everett Bramhall
Aliki Collins
Shivang Dave *
Lucas DiLeo
Kyriaki Dunussi & John Joannopoulos
Ernest & Young Foundation
Geoffrey Gill
Louis Goldish
Robert Goodof
Robert Gottlieb
Allan M. Green
Jonathan Green & Jennifer Stone
Louis Gudema
Joseph Hadzima
James Harrison
John Harthorne *
Paul Hartung
Deb Hicks
Catherine Iacobo
Diane Joseph-McCarthy
Jonathan Katz
Stephen & Carolyn Kelly *
Charles Kiefer
Lawrence Krakauer
Natalie Kuldell *
Kristin Kupres
Gene Landy
Hikyu Lee
Howard Levin
Jesse Lipcon
Roman Lubynsky & Karen Golz
George Mabry
David Manns
Walter Massenburg
Jerome Meier
Ali Merchant *
Julie Messervy *
Peter Miller
Kyra Montagu
Margery Myers
Quinton Ng *
John O’Donnell
Katherine Putnam
Dhananjaya Rao
Neil Rasmussen & Anna Winter
Peter Rosenblum
Daniel Ross
Ernest Sabine
Alexander Sappok
Ronald Scharlack
Andrea Schievella & Robert Karp
Joel Schindall
John Schwartz
Richard Scott
William Severns
Donald Shobrys & Carol Aronson
Kevin Sieck
Michael Silverman
Jeffrey Singer
Stephen Smith
Jerry Socol
Joseph Soussou
Robert Stearns
Bruce Sunstein
Elliot Swan
Carol & Neil Todreas
Bill Townsend *
John Turner & Tee Taggart
James Van Alen
Pierre & Amy Villeneuve
Susan & William Wagner
Tairan W& & Huan Yao *
Steven Willis
Charles Yie
Kent Zelle *
Pei Zhang *
Charles Ziering
* VMS entrepreneur