The Insider: Investors Edition - Quarter 3: 2024
This quarterly edition of The Insider from Venture Partners at CU Boulder delivers upcoming investment opportunities, networking events and top headlines for startup investors. View past editions or change your subscription.
CU Boulder Startups in the News
2024 cohort of CU Boulder’s Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator launches new startups
The Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator pairs seasoned entrepreneurs with university technologies to bring those breakthroughs to market in response to urgent societal needs. Embark has launched its second Entrepreneurs in Residence cohort and will provide Intellectual Property rights, salary support, grant funds and investor introductions to launch startups with real-world impact.
Activate announces founders of CU Boulder spinouts in Cohort 2024
Activate is a nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to transform their research into market-ready products and services through a two-year fellowship that provides funding, mentorship and access to a robust network of experts and resources. Three Cohort 2024 fellows join Activate from companies spun up at CU Boulder with Venture Partners at CU Boulder.
If GPS goes dark, Mesa Quantum has a backup plan
CNBC—CU Boulder startup Mesa Quantum has raised $3.7 million in seed funding on top of a $1.7 million Space Force grant to develop chip-scale quantum sensors.
The startup’s quantum sensors could bring navigation, timing and positioning data to electronic devices of every kind, alleviating their need to pick up distant GPS satellite signals. Many GPS satellites covering the U.S. have aged beyond their initially intended lifespan.
The startup’s quantum sensors could bring navigation, timing and positioning data to electronic devices of every kind, alleviating their need to pick up distant GPS satellite signals. Many GPS satellites covering the U.S. have aged beyond their initially intended lifespan.
Boulder quantum firm Infleqtion, a CU spinout, raises nearly $11M
BizWest—Infleqtion, a quantum information company that began as ColdQuanta at CU Boulder, raised about $10.8 million from investors this month, according to a pair of Form Ds filed recently with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fundraiser came less than two months after the company hired Matthew Kinsella as its new CEO.
Think Bioscience, a CU Boulder spinout, raises $26M to find ‘pockets’ for drug therapies
BizWest—Think Bioscience, a CU Boulder spinout, has raised a $26 million seed round—including a recently completed $6 million expansion of the initial fundraise—to develop small-molecule therapeutics that target “undruggable” proteins.
OnKure, a CU Boulder spinout, hitches Reneo's ride to Nasdaq in merger, with $65M PIPE to boot
Fierce Biotech—OnKure Therapeutics, a CU Boulder spinout, has merged with Reneo Pharmaceuticals, jumping onto Wall Street with $120 million and a lead breast cancer treatment challenging the likes of Eli Lilly, Relay and Scorpion. The merged biotech will retain OnKure's name and is set to trade under the ticker “OKUR.”
Investment Opportunities: CU Boulder Startups Seeking Funding
CU Boulder Startup Pipeline News
Venture Partners Update: Startups Surge
By translating breakthrough research into new businesses, CU creates economic opportunities while addressing many of the world’s greatest challenges. In the past year, CU Boulder has burned especially bright through Venture Partners’ record-setting performance.
CU Boulder, Elevate Quantum partners ready for $127M regional quantum boost
CU Boulder Today—Elevate Quantum, of which CU Boulder is a key partner, announced today that it has received a Tech Hub Phase 2 implementation award from the Department of Commerce, unlocking more than $127 million in new federal and state funding.
Gov. Jared Polis signs quantum industry bill on CU Boulder campus
CU Boulder Today—Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ushered in a new bill to support the state’s rapidly growing quantum industry. Polis signed the bill from the top floor of the JILA Tower, one of the epicenters of quantum research on campus, with a view of the Flatirons in the background.
Life-sciences leaders: Pfizer’s exit means opportunity
BizWest—Leaders of Boulder's and the university's life-sciences community who gathered at the BioFrontiers Institute at CU Boulder for a BizWest CEO Roundtable said they saw Pfizer’s recent departure as a lucrative opportunity.