LumenAstra Inc.

The University of Colorado Connection

LumenAstra was founded on the core body thermometer technology from the lab of Zoya Popovic , distinguished professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering at CU Boulder. The founders met in 2019 through a mentor-inventor matching program at Venture Partners at CU Boulder, the precursor to the Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator. 

LumenAstra's beachhead application is non-invasive monitoring of brain temperature during highly dangerous aortic arch surgery, where the LumenAstra sensor may lower mortality by ~20% and dramatically reduce neural damage and cognitive loss from induced hypothermia. LumenAstra is initially targeting the 2.1 million annual surgical and ICU-trauma procedures that require brain temperature management, where invasive bladder temperature is used as a surrogate today.

LumenAstra has performed the first animal pilot study in March and is building a pre-production prototype based on learnings. They anticipate first human pilots at strategic cardiac surgery clinics later in 2026 and have had initial pre-submission conversations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the choice of predicate for a 510(k) submission in 2027.

Funding Status and Investment Opportunities

• Industry Applications: Health and Wellness, Biotech, Diagnostics, Medical Devices
• Funding Round: Seed 
• Contact for Investment Inquiries: Jim Pollock , Co-Founder and CEO, jim@lumenastra.io

Technology Development Funding

U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Army, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT)

    This page was last updated on July 31, 2026. Please email vpnews@colorado.edu for corrections or updates