On February 24, 2021, CU Boulder regenerative tissue spinout TissueForm won first place and $20,000 after pitching their next generation dermal filler technology at the UNC Monfort Entrepreneurial Challenge.
TissueForm seeks to improve quality-of-life outcomes at lower costs for patients suffering from tissue disease, damage, or aging through stem cell and matrix-based therapies. The company—founded by Jeanne Barthold, PhD, and CU Boulder Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Corey Neu—is no stranger to the pitch competition circuit.
TissueForm won $125,000 in Venture Partners' 2018 Lab Venture Challenge and took home multiple awards and more than $20,000 as the Women's Entrepreneurship Prize Winner, Research & Development (R&D) Track winner and third runner-up in CU Boulder's New Venture Challenge 11.
TissueForm has been working with Venture Partners for the last five years on commercialization strategies by securing IP and funding, advising with mentors, and attending entrepreneurial events and customer discovery workshops like Research-to-Market (R2M).
The company's focus in the near term is to commercialize its first product, NatruDerme. TissueForm is looking to raise seed financing alongside non-dilutive federal and state grants to enable critical FDA-pathway defined manufacturing and pre-clinical studies.
"This will enable TissueForm to grow our team and complete the first step towards FDA device approval: pre-clinical safety and toxicity testing," said Barthold.
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