Venture Partners News
Venture Partners at É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥ and its partners across the Intermountain West once again demonstrated the power of university innovations with back-to-back startup showcases for the Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator and Destination Startup. Both provided a platform for cutting-edge startups, breakthrough research and high-growth potential ventures to connect with industry leaders and investors.
Mesa Quantum, a É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥ spinout and leader in quantum sensing, recently announced $3.7 million in seed funding and a $1.9 million grant from SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force. Both investments are fueling the company’s drive toward commercializing chip-scale quantum sensors for multiple applications including next-generation position, navigation and timing solutions.
Daily Camera—ɫ½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥â€™s commercialization, including startup companies, had an economic impact of $8 billion nationally and $5.2 billion in Colorado from 2018-2022, according to a 2022 report from É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥â€™s Leeds School of Business. Ball Aerospace was one of the first startup companies out of É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥. Another is Solid Power, which creates electric vehicle batteries and other components and has partnered with Ford and BMW.
Destination Startup brings groundbreaking startups built on novel discoveries from top national labs and universities together with investors from throughout North America to catalyze real-world impact. This showcase demonstrates a powerful way to invest in and get funding for innovative research and translate it into impactful business ventures.
These use-inspired and translation grant opportunities are available to qualifying startups and universities to accelerate the research, development and commercialization of innovations in advanced sensing and computation that lead to tangible products, services, or solutions. Support ranges from $250,000 to $750,000 for the Translation Grant Program and up to $500,000 for the Use-Inspired R&D Grant Program.
The É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥ Research & Innovation Office (RIO) announced a targeted realignment in November to enhance strategic integration across key areas and best position RIO to serve the university's growing research and innovation needs. The shift focused on RIO’s internal organization and operations and was designed to support long-term growth, collaboration and impact.
The second cohort of Entrepreneurs in Residence in the Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator will pitch their newly built startups bringing to market ten groundbreaking technologies developed within É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥'s research labs. Investors and business
É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥ Today—When it comes to putting science into action, last year was one for the record books. From July 2023 to June 2024, É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥ helped to launch 35 new companies based on research at the university—a big tick up from the previous record of 20 companies in fiscal year 2021.
É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥ Today—To kick off the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology in 2025, three Colorado universities, in collaboration with Elevate Quantum, have announced that a new facility for fostering quantum technologies is coming to É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥, Colorado.
FY 2023-24 was another tremendous year for innovation and entrepreneurship at the CU. University researchers, inventors and creators began working with Venture Partners at É«½ä³ÉÈËÖ±²¥ to advance 144 breakthrough innovations, and 36 CU startups were launched through Venture Partners based on campus discoveries.