🔒Hartford venture firm aims to help startups avoid the ‘valley of death’

In the basement of a home in Chicopee, Massachusetts, two small-scale prototypes of a flying machine sat in pieces for years — the unfinished dream of inventor Richard Zielonka. Zielonka, who worked as a field services manager for Pacific Bell before retiring to Chicopee, spent decades trying to develop and market the concept of a rotor car — a personal flying vehicle. His son, Robert Zielonka, grew up watching that dream struggle to get off the ground. After earning his MBA from UConn in 2007, Robert Zielonka tried to help bring the invention to market, pitching the technology to drone companies, aerospace manufacturers and investors. The effort never found a backer. Richard Zielonka died last year at age 91. “I grew up with this innovation as a kid,” said Robert Zielonka, now 44 and CEO of Hartford-based Escape Velocity Partners. “He wanted to change the world. He wanted to create a Jetsons flying car where everybody’s flying. But he was not able to execute on that dream because he didn’t know all of the investors. He wasn’t able to grow his network. “So, that’s what caused me to want to make sure other inventors had the support they needed, so they don’t end up like my father and his dream.” That experience helped drive Zielonka to co-found Escape Velocity, a new company that combines venture fund investments in early-stage startups with an entrepreneurial mentorship program. The idea is for Escape Velocity to invest time and money in fledgling Connecticut startups, helping them grow while taking a percentage ownership stake.

Early bets

In early March, Escape Velocity selected its first three startups for its inaugural program, which includes a $100,000 investment in each company and six months of mentorship from the firm’s five co-founders and their network of advisers. About 50 companies applied. The selected startups include:

• SingleTimeMicroneedles, a seven-employee biotechnology company developing microneedle patches to deliver drugs without traditional injections;
• Cena Health, which is developing medically tailored nutrition programs for healthcare treatment; and
• Swipestorm (operating as “Huddle”), a company building an application to help fast-service restaurants manage daily operations.

Zielonka said Escape Velocity grew out of Partners on Prospect, a nonprofit he helped found in 2019 to connect Connecticut entrepreneurs with investors. Over time, he realized many startups struggled to secure funding because they were too early in their development. “I learned it wasn’t as easy as just getting more investors,” Zielonka said. “The investors wanted companies to be a bit more mature, have their stuff together in terms of market understanding, being more polished in presenting. They weren’t quite up to par with what the investors were expecting.” Escape Velocity’s program is designed to bridge the gap between early-stage startups and companies mature enough to attract larger-scale investment. The firm takes a 5% to 10% ownership stake in the companies it backs, and is developing other revenue streams, including referral fees from service providers such as marketing or staffing firms. The founders also plan to raise funds on behalf of other companies and investors. Zielonka worked as a logistics manager for Collins Aerospace for nearly 10 years before leaving in November 2024 to focus on launching Escape Velocity. He is also co-founder of Growler Power, a five-year-old company that converts craft beer growlers into portable refrigerated dispensers. Zielonka said he and his partners spent several years preparing to launch the venture. They pooled their own savings to fund the first round of investments. They plan to use incoming revenue and outside capital to fund a larger cohort in October, with plans to invest $250,000 in five to 10 companies and provide a year of mentorship. New cohorts would launch each October.

‘Valley of death’

Jacquelyn “Jax” Higgins, an Escape Velocity co-founder and startup consultant, said her team realized several years ago that early-stage companies needed more than mentorship — they also needed capital to survive the “valley of death,” the period between developing an idea and attracting investors. “That’s kind of how Escape Velocity Partners came to pass,” said Higgins, now the firm’s chief operating officer. The company is headquartered on the third floor of The Hartford Club’s Georgian Revival mansion on Prospect Street in downtown Hartford. While Escape Velocity will consider investments anywhere in Connecticut, Higgins said they hope to serve as a catalyst for economic development in Hartford and the surrounding region. Other Escape Velocity co-founders also have experience supporting startups. David Logan, for example, is CEO of Umergence, a Southington-based financial firm that helps companies find investors and raise capital. He previously served as Connecticut chair of the accelerator program for Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a global business network. Logan spent about a decade working in IT at UConn before leaving in 2015 to launch Umergence with a partner. Each contributed $400,000 from retirement savings as seed money. Today, the company has built a network of about 50 contract representatives, closes dozens of deals each quarter and generates roughly $10 million in annual revenue, Logan said. Logan met Zielonka in 2018 at The Hartford Club, where the two bonded over a shared interest in helping startups. Logan now serves as Escape Velocity’s chief experience officer, leading technology design and helping portfolio companies navigate pathways to raising capital. He also helps match startups with volunteer mentors. “There’s a lot of people that want to give back,” Logan said. “So that’s the beauty, there are opportunities to give back.” Zielonka said he hopes Escape Velocity will encourage others to combine mentorship and investment to support early-stage startups in Connecticut. “We would love to be the catalyst for the ecosystem,” Zielonka said. “But if not, we’re prepared to help bring the flow of private capital into this ecosystem.” Escape Velocity has established connections with Trinity College and the UConn Technology Incubation Program in Farmington. The company is also working with AdvanceCT, the nonprofit that leads the state’s business recruitment and retention efforts, and Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public venture investment arm.

CI Managing Director of Investments Douglas Roth helped Escape Velocity vet applications for the inaugural cohort. He said the organization adds another layer to the state’s venture funding ecosystem. “The venture capital startup community and ecosystem is not generally competitive,” Roth said. “All of the different moving parts can and should help each other.” Roth noted that several accelerator-style programs that previously operated in Hartford — including the Hartford InsurTech Hub — are no longer active, creating space for new initiatives.

Tim Miller, vice president of business development in life sciences for AdvanceCT, said Escape Velocity focuses on helping very early-stage founders who often struggle to secure funding, find customers and build visibility. There are “limited options” for early-stage entrepreneurs, Miller said.

A critical catalyst

Members of Escape Velocity’s first cohort are already showing early traction. That includes Nathan Catapano’s company, Swipestorm.

Catapano, 23, got a part-time job at his hometown Chick-fil-A in Wallingford when he was 16. Four years later, using self-taught coding skills, he developed an app to track and resolve customer issues, replacing a clunky binder filled with handwritten notes. About 50 Chick-fil-A locations now subscribe to the “Resolve” app, generating monthly revenue that allows Catapano to cover basic expenses. But the income hasn’t been enough to significantly grow the business. Escape Velocity’s investment is allowing him to shift focus to a more comprehensive platform called Huddle, which is designed to manage restaurant operations ranging from shift scheduling and task checklists to training and performance tracking. “Now I can fully focus on bringing Huddle to life and really changing the way restaurant teams operate,” Catapano said. The $100,000 investment will be distributed over six months and paired with mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs. In exchange, Catapano agreed to give Escape Velocity roughly 7% ownership of his company. The first $25,000 installment arrived in early March. Catapano said he hopes to have a working version of Huddle within three months and enroll 50 to 60 restaurants by the end of the mentorship program in August. The funding will allow him to hire help with market research and development.

Beyond funding

SingleTimeMicroneedles, another company in Escape Velocity’s first cohort, initially joined the program for the investment funding. But the Farmington-based biotech startup has since attracted additional backing, raising about $1.5 million mostly from angel investors, according to co-founder and CEO Jasdeep Singh.

With financial pressure easing, Singh said the operational guidance and network-building offered through Escape Velocity may prove even more valuable. Building a biotech company requires navigating complex challenges — including regulatory approval, manufacturing and hiring — that many startup programs don’t address in depth. “The nuts and bolts is extremely hard,” Singh said. Founded in 2022 by Singh and UConn professor Thanh Duc Nguyen, the startup is developing microneedle patches designed to deliver drugs, peptides and vaccines through the skin without the pinch of syringes or the need for refrigeration. The company is currently producing small batches of patches for testing, sampling and niche health-market sales. Eventually, the company hopes to secure approval to deliver more tightly regulated pharmaceutical treatments. Singh said a major manufacturing expansion is planned later this year. An equipment purchase from China could increase production from a few thousand patches per month to about 100,000 per month in the second half of 2026. “We expect to be, by the end of the year, fully operational on the manufacturing side, which would increase our Connecticut headcount from 5 to about 15,” he said. Originally based at UConn’s Storrs campus, SingleTimeMicroneedles recently relocated to Farmington through UConn’s Technology Incubation Program, where it now operates multiple laboratories and offices. Escape Velocity’s local focus is particularly valuable, Singh said, because it connects founders with regional resources. “This is the only program that I know of in the state that is really bringing an ecosystem together around founders,” Singh said. “Rather than founders going into an ecosystem, they’re bringing the ecosystem to us.”