About Us

Hope Hartman
 CEO

Denichiro "Denny" Otsuga, Ph.D., RTTP
President
Hope’s career extends from large corporations to include The Body Shop and  Williams-Sonoma, to privately held companies such as CoffeeTimes and Joseph-Beth Booksellers. In the middle of her career she obtained a Certificate for English Language Teaching Adults (CELTA) from Cambridge University and taught English at a Math, Science and Technology Magnet School.

Over a decade ago she moved to Seattle deciding to move into a career in the higher education system where she landed in the technology transfer office at the University of Washington, Seattle. It was in this position that she was exposed to intellectual property (IP) management, commercialization and IP based startup company formation. While in Seattle she was a member of the North West Entrepreneur Network(NWEN) where she recruited the initial members for the LaunchPad Advisory Board.

Based on her experience in IP, she was recruited by a small software company as a manager.   During her seven-year career, she has held progressively higher positions and responsibilities, most recently as the Vice President of Business Development. During that time she significantly expanded the international market by gaining clients in Brazil, Chile and Colombia, initiated several online services, created a Global User Group and designed an onboarding program for new hires. While volunteering for the Rocky Mountain Innosphere’s SAGE program, her affinity for supporting startup companies continues.

Eventually in which EnConnect was born. Combining experience and insights, it’s time to create value for others.

Denny was born and raised in Japan and moved to the US when he was 14 with his father who was a metallurgical engineer sent to assist a steel company in Ohio.  Denny studied biology and eventually received a Ph.D. in molecular genetics.  After seven years of his research career in an academic laboratory, which resulted in eight peer reviewed journal articles, Denny switched his career path to enter the technology transfer field in 2002.  From there, he worked in a startup biotechnology company outside Los Angeles, where he had a role to acquire technologies from universities and sponsor research projects at universities.  Since then, he has achieved progressively higher management roles at academic technology transfer operations, most recently as the Vice President of CSU Ventures, Inc., an independent intellectual property management and commercialization entity managing intellectual properties and the startup process on contract with Colorado State University.
The two founders, Hope and Denny have worked in the technology/knowledge transfer and startup field for more than 25 years, combined.  One thing we have realized is the importance of connections.  To make an effective connection, there must first be a chance to meet.  It may be exchanging a business card at a meeting, a social media invitation or a cup of coffee.  However the network is created, it is true that every encounter with someone new, there is an opportunity to learn and extend the potential for growth.  Our goal is to help connect our clients and develop a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties.