AEON Foundry | Peter Dolch — Mentor | Advise | Invest

News, Milestones & Speaking

2026 MIT WVC

4th Annual MIT Women's Venture Challenge

Applications now open for the 4th annual competition at Deutsche Bank Center, NYC. Founded and run by Peter Dolch, the MIT WVC brings together female founders, investors, and industry experts — addressing the fact that women receive less than 3% of VC funding.

2025 MIT WVC

GLAM4GOOD Social Good Prize Launches at MIT WVC

The 3rd Annual MIT Women's Venture Challenge introduced a $10,000 GLAM4GOOD Social Good Prize alongside the $10,000 first-place cash prize. Birth By Us (Mercy Oladipo & Ijeoma Uche) and Givtra (Melinda & Janet Liu) won the inaugural Social Good grants. Over 200 attendees at Deutsche Bank Center. Forbes, BusinessWire, and MIT News covered the event.

2025 Fundamentals of a Life Science Pitch

Bio-Innovate Webinar Series

Guest lecturer on what life science founders need to know about positioning, narrative, and investor expectations when raising early-stage capital.

2025 Lecturer

Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs

Invited lecturer on early-stage venture investing and founder-investor dynamics.

2024 MIT WVC

NeuroBionics Wins 2nd Annual MIT Female Founders Pitch Competition

Nicolette Driscoll's NeuroBionics won the $10,000 first prize at the 2nd Annual competition at Deutsche Bank Center. Smarty (Denzil Eden) took 2nd place, and ergo (Claire Stepanek) won Audience Choice. The event featured VC and entrepreneur panels with leading female investors and founders.

2024 Advisory

MySideKick Named Official Safety App for 2024 Summer Games

MySideKick, co-founded by Peter Dolch, was selected as the official safety app for US athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The US Olympic & Paralympic Committee was the company's first client, building on MySideKick's focus on women's safety on college campuses.

2024 Fund

AEON Foundry Fund I: 68% Portfolio Active

With 20+ investments across life sciences, deep tech, SaaS and other sectors, 68% of Fund I portfolio companies remain active with follow-on rounds or successful exits. Top investment: $4.5M pre-money entry, now generating $175M+ ARR.

2024 Portfolio

Biospectal Granted CE Mark — Launches in Europe

Biospectal's cuffless optical blood pressure solution was granted CE Status by the EU in Q4 2023, and has launched in Switzerland, with new EU countries to be added throughout the year.

2024 Semi-Finals Pitch Competition Judge

Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs World Cup

Judge for the semi-final round of the global Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs pitch competition.

2023 Portfolio

Kurukuru Named a Top 5 YC Startup

Congratulations to the amazing team at Kurukuru! We started working together in mid 2022, and in an incredibly short — but impressively productive — time, the team raised a pre-seed round, got into Y Combinator, were voted a TechCrunch Top 5 YC Startup, on-boarded numerous enthusiastic beta users, closed a follow-on round, and are preparing for product launch.

2022 MIT WVC

Pharmor Wins Inaugural MIT Female Founders Pitch Competition

Ariel Furst's Pharmor won the $10,000 Grand Prize at the inaugural MIT Female Founders Pitch Competition at the Harvard Club of New York. Claire Beskin (Empallo) placed 2nd and Loewen Cavill (AuraBlue) won Audience Choice. The event launched what has become the MIT Women's Venture Challenge.

2022 MIT WVC

1st Annual MIT Female Founders Pitch Competition

Inaugural event at the Harvard Club of New York. Eight founders pitched for a $10,000 first prize. The competition has since grown into the MIT Women's Venture Challenge, now in its fourth year at Deutsche Bank Center.

2022 Speaker / Panelist

InsurTech NY

Panelist on the intersection of venture investing and insurance technology.

2021 Portfolio

Cognoptix Achieves FDA Breakthrough Status

The FDA awarded Sapphire II, Cognoptix' early beta-amyloid detection system, the designation as a Breakthrough Device. In-office early detection of Alzheimer's disease is that much closer.

2021 Portfolio

Trusty.Care Closes $4M Series Seed Round

Trusty's tremendous growth over the past year was impressive enough, but closing this round during Covid was an amazing feat. Trusty.care is a New York based InsurTech company working to improve efficiencies in the distribution of senior, individual, and ancillary insurance products.

2021 Portfolio

Zylo Therapeutics Awarded $1.7M NIH Grant

Congrats to the entire Zylo team for continuing to expand into new therapeutic applications for their groundbreaking technology. This award advances Zylo's program to treat Erectile Dysfunction patients that do not respond to PDE5 inhibitors — an addressable market exceeding $2B/year in the U.S. alone.

2021 Pitch Competition Judge

Moving Forward NY

Judge for mobility and transportation startup pitch competition.

2020 Angel Investors & Entrepreneurs: Key Issues

Defense Entrepreneurs Forum

Presentation on the dynamics between angel investors and defense-tech entrepreneurs — what works, what doesn't, and how to align incentives.

2019 Portfolio

Daivergent Profiled in the New York Times

Congratulations to portfolio company Daivergent for tremendously positive coverage in the New York Times. Daivergent's mission is to support the autism spectrum and developmental disability community in work readiness training, allowing people on the spectrum to successfully pursue their professional aspirations.

2019 Advisory

Alpaca Wraps a Successful Summer at MIT Delta V

Thanks again for the opportunity to be a board member for Alpaca at MIT's delta v Accelerator Program this summer. The Alpaca team did a great job and made tremendous progress. MIT delta v is an accelerator for MIT student entrepreneurs to help them build viable, sustainable ventures.

2019 Portfolio

Womp Completes Techstars Program

Congratulations to the entire team at WOMP for being one of ten companies selected into the prestigious 2019 STANLEY+Techstars Accelerator. Demo Day was a huge success — and WOMP Founder Gabriela Trueba was featured on Maker Month Spotlight.

2019 Speaking

Judging the Pitch Event at Moving Forward Conference

Thanks for the opportunity to be one of the pitch event judges! The Moving Forward Conference NYC highlighted important trends and innovations in Blockchain/Fintech, AI, Urban Future, and Media. The pitch event had amazing entrepreneurs — and we found a portfolio company.

2019 Portfolio

Beckon Partners with Whole Foods — 454 Store Launch

Congratulations to the tremendously talented team at Beckon Ice Cream — Gwen & Katy — for a successful 454 store launch at Whole Foods. Beckon is real ice cream, made with real dairy, lactose-free.

2018 Portfolio

Biospectal Wins Gold at MassChallenge

Biospectal's cuffless optical blood pressure solution was awarded MassChallenge Switzerland's 2018 Gold prize from a field of 1,000 applicants. This comes right on the heels of being selected as a Top 10 Finalist for the Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenge in Washington D.C.

2000 Feature Profile

The New York Times — Front Page

Profiled on the front page of the New York Times as the operator behind one of NYC's first internet incubators — 40+ startups launched.

Testimonials

From founders we've worked with

Peter has been very helpful in the design of my startup's narrative and fundraising strategy. He is thoughtful and genuine, and his feedback on our pitch deck and fundraising efforts has made a huge difference in our journey.

— Patty W. — Founder

Peter is an insightful, patient and experienced advisor. He's helped my startup with strategy, fundraising, and market analysis, among other key work-streams. He's been a huge value add to me and my company, and I endorse him 100% as a startup advisor.

— Mat — Founder, Advisory Client

I found Peter to be knowledgeable, curious, professional, diplomatic, solutions-oriented, and effective. Peter is a great person to collaborate and brainstorm with. I'd happily work with him again.

— Lisa S. — Chief Digital Officer

Peter is a great collaborator and partner. One of the best decisions I ever made was to bring Peter in on a project for a major telecommunications company. He is calm and focused under pressure. He also really knows his stuff. A true professional.

— Enterprise Technology Executive

Peter and his team have worked for me on various projects and at different firms. They are highly intelligent, always at the leading edge with creative and solidly built solutions. Extremely professional with fabulous communications skills.

— Cristina D. — CEO & Entrepreneur

I have a long-standing relationship with Peter. I have had the opportunity to engage on multiple projects throughout the years and continue to go back time and again. Peter is a straight-shooter, accomplishes what he says and goes the extra mile.

— John — Technology Executive

Ideas on napkins.Companies that ship.

Ideas on napkins.
Companies that ship.