Opportunities and Events
Signature Venture Partners Programming
A partnership with top research universities across the Western U.S. to reduce the time and risk associated with translating promising ideas and technologies to the marketplace.
Applications Now Open
A campus-wide resource for both existing and aspiring university-originated startups seeking non-dilutive funding—to translate their university inventions into a startup company.
Translational Funding Week Oct. 27-30
Accepting Support Requests
With myriad CU Boulder technologies ready to make a real-world impact, Embark seeks motivated entrepreneurs ready to launch new companies.
A competition for CU Boulder's top innovations showing high commercial potential, a clear path to a compelling market and strong scientific support.
An accelerator for research teams building deep tech startups coming out of the University of Colorado campuses in Boulder, Colorado Springs and Denver.
A collaboration among the Intermountain West region's leading research universities and federal laboratories, showcasing the best companies from the region’s innovation ecosystem to investors and the business community.
Upcoming Opportunities and Events at CU
Translational Funding Week
Oct. 27-30 | Daily Lunchtime Sessions Noon–2 p.m. MT | All Sessions Available Virtually and Day 1 Available In Person
All Are Welcome and Great for Researchers, Inventors and Creators—CU Affiliation is Not Required
Are you a university researcher, inventor or deep tech founder exploring ways to translate your innovation into real-world impact? Join us for Translational Funding Week—a series of engaging lunchtime sessions designed to demystify the landscape of non-dilutive funding opportunities that support the journey from lab to market. These sessions are tailored to faculty, postdocs, PhD students and startup teams who want to learn how to secure early-stage funding to commercialize research, build ventures and scale innovation.
Offered by Venture Partners and the Center for Translational Research
Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop
Application Deadline Thursday, Jan. 15
Jan. 22-Feb. 5, Virtual Opportunity
All Are Welcome—CU Affiliation is Not Required
Do you have an innovation that could make a difference? Whether a researcher, entrepreneur, inventor or problem solver, this workshop can help you transform your concept into a successful venture. Over three weeks, gain a deeper understanding of the commercialization process, test your ideas with real potential customers and accelerate your journey toward bringing your idea to market. This workshop is for anyone from a research or community institution—not just CU—motivated to bring their ideas to life, secure funding and create lasting impact.
Offered by Venture Partners and NSF I-CorpsTM Hub West
Research-to-Market (R2M) Customer Discovery Program
Application Deadline Tuesday, May 5
May 12-June 23, Virtual Opportunity
All Are Welcome—CU Affiliation is Not Required
This four-week program helps teams through customer discovery and finding a market for their innovation. Derived from the National Science Foundation's I-Corps™ program, R2M leverages the nationally recognized Lean LaunchPad and Business Model Canvas methodologies specifically designed for researchers, entrepreneurs, inventors and problem solvers from any research or community institution.
Offered by Venture Partners and NSF I-CorpsTM Hub West
Opportunities Outside CU
Featured Opportunities
Tuesday, Jan. 20, May 19 (deadlines) | National Science Foundation Translation to Practice-Translate (NSF TTP-T)—Supporting projects that build on early translational work to refine ideas, improve solutions and reduce barriers to moving research from the lab into real-world use.
Tuesday, Jan. 20, May 19 (deadlines) | National Science Foundation Translation to Partner-Translate (NSF TTP-P)—Supporting translational efforts that demand one or more partnerships for technology development and deployment.
Rolling Deadline |National Science Foundation Translation to Practice-Explore (NSF TTP-E)—Offers up to two additional years of funding on a current NSF award to support high-risk, use-inspired research and early translation efforts not included in the original project.
Receiving Applications | Leveraging Entrepreneurship to Accelerate Partnerships with Universities (LEAP-U)—An incubation program to mature technologies in North American universities towards commercialization.
More Opportunities
Tuesday, Oct. 28 (deadline) | Activate Fellowship—A two-year fellowship that transforms scientists and engineers into founders, empowering them to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market.
Wednesday, Oct. 29 | Ask Gigascale Anything—An informal, virtual gathering for early-stage founders to explore commercializing deep tech solutions with Gigascale Capital's partnerships team.
Friday, Oct. 31 (deadline) | Bayer LifeHub California at Woodland: Golden Ticket III: Unlocking the Potential of Vegetables with Gene Editing—A competition through which the winning AgTech startup receives 12 months of fully funded access to lab space, equipment, and Bayer’s innovation network.
Friday, Oct. 31 (deadline) | ERDCWERX's Construction Engineering Research Laboratory CSO—Seeking innovative solutions or potential new capabilities, which may include existing technologies or procedures that are not currently in use, that would improve mission capabilities.
Friday, Nov. 7 (deadline) | West Gate Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)—A two-year fellowship embedding scientists and founders at NREL to de-risk and commercialize promising energy and advanced technology ventures; selected innovators relocate to Golden or the Denver region.
Monday, Nov. 10 (deadline) | One Mind Accelerator (OMA)—10-week accelerator for mental-health startups with capital, network and mentorship.
Monday, Nov. 10 (deadline) | Breakthrough Energy Fellows—One-year full-time climate technology fellowship offering funding, curriculum, tech management and network support.
Thursday, Nov. 13 | CBSA and Foley Hoag Colorado Life Sciences Summit—A high-energy afternoon of insights, networking and practical strategies.
Friday, Nov. 14 (deadline) | Science2Startup (S2S)—Top academic researchers submit one-page ideas and selected finalists receive mentorship and present to biotech investors at May 2026 in Cambridge, MA.
Friday, Nov. 14 (deadline) | Equalize Startups—A pitch competition and symposium to empower academic women entrepreneurs with six-month free mentoring, training and networking.
Nov. 19-21, National Harbor, MD | TechConnect's Defense Innovation Summit and Expo—The U.S.'s premier defense innovation event, connecting top dual-use solution providers with top military, industry and investment leadership.
Friday, Nov. 21 (deadline) | Colorado Cleantech Awards Nominations—Submit nominations to honor the innovators, entrepreneurs and organizations driving clean energy innovation and sustainability across Colorado’s cleantech industry.
Monday, Nov. 25 (deadline) | Elbow Grease—An 8-week in-person accelerator providing selected AI-centric startups with first-check investment, founder-led mentorship, weekly workshops and access to a lifelong founder community in New York City.
Thursday, Dec. 4 | Colorado Cleantech Awards Celebration—Join industry leaders and innovators for an evening recognizing excellence in Colorado’s cleantech community, celebrating the technologies and entrepreneurs shaping a cleaner energy future.
Wednesday, Dec. 10 | CBSA's Finding Success in a Challenging Environment: Biotech & Medtech Symposium—A half-day symposium bringing together leaders, investors and innovators from across Colorado’s life sciences ecosystem, centered on the EY Biotech and Medtech Reports, cornerstone analyses that reveal the realities behind industry headlines.
Monday, March 30 (deadline) | C3 Accelerator—A growth stage Accelerator that offers grants, investments and services to support product development and scaling of cleantech, climatech and circular economy technologies.
Rolling Applications
OEDIT's Advanced Industries Accelerator Programs—Promoting growth and sustainability in Colorado’s advanced industries that increase the state's global competitiveness.
OEDIT's Advanced Industry Investment Tax Credit—Encouraging investments in Colorado advanced industry businesses by incentivizing investors with state income tax credits.
Calling International Student Entrepreneurs & Offering Support—Unshackled Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused exclusively on immigrant-founded startups.
Evergreen Climate Innovations Investment Fund—Application open for this fund, which is structured as a revolving evergreen fund in which Evergreen reinvests returns from prior investments.
NYSERDA's Building Better Homes Program—Expanding the capacity of builders and developers to construct and market zero emissions (all-electric) homes.
SBIR/STTR Funding—Funding is granted through many different agencies across the federal government and in various areas of innovation.
Techstars Accelerator Programs—Empowering entrepreneurs by providing access to mentorship, capital and a global network to help them succeed and scale their startups.
Various Deadlines
National Technology Alliance—A curated pipeline of vetted opportunities aligned with industry and national priorities from Catalyst Partners, government requirements and industry targets.
U.S. Federal Prize Competitions—Empowering the federal government and the public to participate together in equitable forms of innovation through prize competitions.
Employment Opportunities
LongPath Technologies | Manufacturing Test Engineer: Take the company's laser spectrometers from engineering builds into stable production and keep them reliable at scale.
CU Innovations | HIE Initiative Communication & Marketing Fellow: Seeking a creative and proactive CU student to support our marketing and communications efforts, with a focus on content creation and community engagement.
For more opportunities, please check back soon or sign up for updates.
Are you a CU startup with an employment opportunity to share with the CU community? Send it to vpnews@colorado.edu for posting here. Also, you can post to CU Boulder's recruitment platform Handshake and/or join the Startups2Students career fair.