Published: Feb. 1, 2022

When it comes to translating ideas into impact at CU Boulder, the tangible results from 2021 are eye-popping, even record-breaking. Venture Partners at CU Boulder, the university’s commercialization arm, has documented this new level of performance in its 2021 Annual Report.


Sixty-five licenses and options. Twenty new startups. $2.1 billion in capital raised by CU Boulder spinout companies. $3.7 billion in exits by our startups. CU Boulder is incredibly proud of the “measurables” and the individual success stories of our inventors and startups. And these achievements tell just part of the story.

The Ascent Deep Tech Accelerator, a new partnership with Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), leverages CU Boulder’s full ecosystem to accelerate progress for early-stage companies from University of Colorado campuses. And, as part of a National Science Foundation initiative, Venture Partners launched a collaboration with seven research universities to form the I-Corps Hub West Region to help cultivate deep technology businesses in the Western United States.

2021 wrapped up for the campus with the Innovation Award from the Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU), an honor that recognizes CU Boulder’s continuous endeavor to be the top university for innovation.

On the horizon for Venture Partners includes more expansive achievements like regional workforce development, job creation, economic impact and strengthening CU Boulder and its extended ecosystem as an innovation hub for the country and the world.

About Venture Partners at CU Boulder
Venture Partners at CU Boulder translates breakthrough research into economic and societal impact. We achieve record-breaking results by equipping researchers to commercialize lab discoveries.