About Us

Venture Partners is the commercialization arm of CU Boulder, UCCS, and CU Denver (except CU Denver biosciences) and a recognized national leader in translating university research into market-ready solutions and products, having received the 2021 Innovation Award from the APLU. Venture Partners provides an array of resources for researchers to commercialize their innovations, including intellectual property management, entrepreneurial training, an external mentor network, translational grant funding, a startup accelerator, an investor network, and an affiliated venture capital fund.

With over 300 patent applications filed each year, Venture Partners has a well-established intellectual property management system. Importantly, Venture Partners has a streamlined licensing process called Licensing with EASE®, which ensures that the university’s patents are made available under transparent, reasonable, and pre-negotiated rates, simplifying and accelerating the licensing process.

Entrepreneurial training is provided through the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps^TM Hub: West Region. Venture Partners offers the renowned I-Corps methodology, designed to teach scientists and engineers the skills to test and validate product-market fit. Participants learn and apply the fundamentals of “customer discovery,” an experiential process to map out the ecosystem surrounding a technological innovation, and then test the value proposition for that innovation through key stakeholder interviews. The I-Corps programs at CU Boulder are available to all university innovators, lead to grant funding opportunities with NSF, and are essential training for aspiring startup founders and inventors who wish to partner their technology with established corporate partners.  

Venture Partners offers translational grants for researchers with high-potential inventions through the Lab Venture Challenge (LVC). Over $1 million is awarded annually in $125,000 grants. For innovators with startup aspirations, the Ascent Deep Tech Startup Creator, designed specifically for academic startup founders from science and engineering, provides basic training in building a new company, including finance, raising capital, and product development. For startup company funding, Venture Partners offers SBIR/STTR grant-writing assistance, an annual investor showcase, and a fully integrated partnership with Buff Gold Ventures, a $25 million venture capital fund that invests exclusively in CU Boulder startup companies.

The impact of Venture Partners is well supported. CU ranked in the top 5 of all US universities in 2021 for startup creation, according to AUTM. In 2024, CU Boulder produced 35 spinout companies, one of the highest totals ever by any university. A study by Brian Lewandowski at the Leeds School of Business determined that between 2018 and 2022, Venture Partners’ commercialization activities resulted in an $8 billion national economic impact, including 39,000 supported jobs.