Meredith Meyer Grelli, best known as the co-founder of Wigle Whiskey, will serve as the new director of Carnegie Mellon University's Project Olympus, a program that aims to provide resources to turn research into startups.
"I am deeply committed to helping our ridiculously talented community members consider a life where they are betting on themselves rather than on an existing corporation," Grelli said in a prepared statement. "I believe that having extraordinarily committed mentors is the greatest gift we can offer our entrepreneurs and founders."
The program is open to students, alumni, faculty and staff across the university. Since its founding in 2007, the program has helped launch over 1,400 startups, including Duolingo. Several startups went on to be acquired by major tech players, including facial image analytics startup FacioMetrics, which Meta, then still operating under the name Facebook, acquired in 2016.
Grelli knows a thing about exits — Pirates owner Bob Nutting acquired Wigle Whiskey in 2022, which Grelli at the time attributed to a desire for "significant future growth." Now, at Project Olympus, the future remains on her mind.
"My goal is to spend the first several months collaborating with stakeholders to envision what the next five to 10 years of Project Olympus might look like," Grelli said in a prepared statement. "This will involve input from across the university and external partners as we define what entrepreneurship needs Project Olympus will meet."
Grelli succeeds Kit Needham, who is retiring after serving as director since 2008.
"Meredith is a joy to work with and is seamlessly stepping into the role to continue the mission of Project Olympus," Needham said in a prepared statement. "Her deep understanding of CMU, outstanding reputation as an entrepreneurial educator and exceptional energy and vision make her the perfect fit for this position."
