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Explore the latest news from Venture Partners at CU Boulder and the breakthrough innovations and startups coming out of the University of Colorado.

Venture Partners News and Announcements

Learn about the first step in funding your latest innovation

To introduce the SBIR/STTR programs and highlight funding uses, Venture Partners at CU Boulder is hosting a session to help researchers understand how to find funding and prepare their companies for an SBIR/STTR proposal.

Registration now open for the Ascent Deep Tech Community Showcase

The Ascent Deep Tech Investor Showcase brings together researchers, investors and community supporters to highlight innovative deep tech startups spinning out of the University of Colorado. Attendees will have a chance to see pitches from each of the Ascent 2025 cohort startups, followed by a networking happy hour to learn more.

Protect your discoveries before you publish them

As a researcher, creator or inventor at the University of Colorado, your work has the potential to change the world. Protecting these innovations may be necessary to ensure that they reach their full potential, benefiting society while securing recognition and opportunities for you.

CU Boulder hosts showcases highlighting breakthrough innovations and investment-ready ventures

Venture Partners at CU Boulder 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.

New financial incentives for disclosing CU Boulder innovations

CU researchers, inventors and creators who submit a disclosure between March 1 and June 30 will be entered into drawings for $100 and $500 gift cards, and intellectual property eligible and selected by an Entrepreneur in Residence for the Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator will be entered into a drawing for $2,000.

Alum Sristy Agrawal leads CU Boulder startup Mesa Quantum to success

Mesa Quantum, a CU Boulder 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.

CU Startups News

BioSensor Solutions joins inaugural cohort of the CO-WY Climate Resilience Engine Digital Twins AcceleratorMar 21, 2025

CO-WY Climate Resilience Engine—The CO-WY Engine accelerator program accelerates the commercial pathways and company growth of early-stage startups using digital twins as a key aspect of their solution. CU Boulder startup BioSensor Solutions is dedicated to transforming agriculture and mitigating environmental degradation by developing cost-effective, high-performance sensor systems.

Sustainable Spinouts: Innovation in ActionMar 10, 2025

Coloradan Magazine—CU Boulder’s researchers are bringing innovations out of their labs and into companies that have real-world impact. The university is a national leader and spinout powerhouse, launching 35 companies in fiscal year 2024 and over 100 since 2016, according to Bryn Rees, associate vice chancellor for innovation and partnerships.

Artimus Robotics wins UK ARIA award to accelerate the development of dexterous robotic hardwareFeb 20, 2025

PR Newswire—Artimus Robotics, a CU Boulder startup and leader in artificial muscle technology, announced £1.5M funding from the UK government's Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA). This contract will enable crucial advancements in Artimus Robotics' core soft actuation technology and support deploying this technology into dexterous manipulators in collaboration with the University of Bristol.

CU Technology and Discovery News

Aircrafts of the future: Boosting aerodynamic performance by engineered surface vibrationsMar 24, 2025

CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science—As the principal investigator of a $7.5 million, five-year Department of Defense Office of Naval Research (ONR) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI), Hussein is leading an effort to reshape the fundamental character of fluid-structure interactions to reduce drag on high-speed aerospace vehicles—the focus of the project.

A vaccine against weight gain? It’s on the horizonJan 7, 2025

New CU Boulder research suggests a surprising tool that could help with weight loss: Exposure to beneficial bacteria. With assistance from Venture Partners, a new startup Kioga will pursue new microbe-based ingredients for preventing weight gain and promoting health.

CU Innovators News

Two CU Boulder scientists win prestigious honorMar 27, 2025

CU Boulder College of Arts & Sciences—Ivan Smalyukh, professor of physics, and Thomas Blumenthal, professor emeritus of molecular, cellular and developmental biology (MCDB), are among the 471 scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

PhD student’s work on engineered adhesives wins national recognitionMar 24, 2025

CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science—Paula Pranda, a chemical and biological engineering PhD student, earned the top student honor at the Adhesion Society meeting for her research on aligned Liquid Crystal Elastomer (LCE) adhesives. The society’s annual meeting was held Feb. 16-19 in New Orleans.

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The Insider is Venture Partners at CU Boulder's monthly newsletter featuring the latest headlines, news, events, opportunities and emerging innovations from the university. We have several editions for our audiences:

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For marketing and communication inquiries or news tips, contact Daniel Leonard, senior marketing and communications specialist for Venture Partners at CU Boulder.

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