Venture Partners Annual Report
FY 2023-24 proved to be a remarkable year for innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado. Venture Partners at CU Boulder facilitated the advancement of 144 groundbreaking innovations, leading to the launch of 36 startups based on university discoveries. These ventures showcased CU’s diverse research expertise, including breakthroughs in sustainability, biosciences, quantum science, optics, and aerospace.
Measuring Impact in Fiscal Year 2023-24
- 36 Startups launched—35 from CU Boulder and 1 from CU Denver
- $426M Capital raised by portfolio companies
- $32M Revenue from commercialization to CU Boulder since 2019
- 63 National Science Foundation I-Corps™ teams trained through Venture Partners
- 94 License and option agreements
A Message From our Leadership
CU Boulder stands as an innovation leader, its prowess enhanced by the collaborative spirit of the Colorado Front Range innovation ecosystem. This community thrives on collaboration, entrepreneurial talent, and deep expertise across various industries, including bioscience, sustainability, quantum, and aerospace.
Venture Partners, the commercialization arm for CU Boulder and certain other campuses, supports researchers, entrepreneurs, industry partners, and investors. Our mission is to translate university discoveries into new solutions, businesses, and partnerships.
This report celebrates the successes of Venture Partners in FY 2023-24, transforming research into real-world impact.
CU Boulder had an exceptional year, with 35 startups emerging from unique university innovations—a record that surpasses the prior high of 20 companies in FY 2020-21. Before this year, only Stanford University had created more startups in a single year. Venture Partners provides crucial support, including resources and programs to help aspiring founders explore product-market fit, identify mentors, secure funding, and grow their ideas into successful companies.
New Initiatives for Startup Growth
A key driver of new startups in FY 2023-24 was the Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator. This initiative pairs promising university innovations with experienced community entrepreneurs, creating new startup models beyond the traditional academic-founder model.
2024 also saw significant ecosystem achievements—a $160 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation for the Colorado-Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine, alongside $127 million in federal and state funding for the Elevate Quantum tech hub. CU Boulder and Venture Partners played major roles in both, further fueling innovation in climate resilience and quantum technologies.
The Foundation for Success
Venture Partners has been building the foundation for its success for many years. We deeply appreciate the team of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, attorneys, and other professionals who are dedicated to bringing CU’s innovations to the world and express gratitude to our partners—the inventors and collaborators across the university, including mentors, investors, companies, and startup support organizations. These collaborations form a powerful ecosystem.
Bryn Rees, Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Partnerships
Massimo Ruzzene, Senior Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Dean of the Institutes
CU Boulder Startup Metrics by Unit and Industry
The bar graph on the left features startups launched by CU Boulder’s different engineering departments, with Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering and Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering leading the way. The right bar graph demonstrates that startups by industry are led by sustainability with a total of 12.
Funding and Valuation Highlights
- $1.2B Raised by Companies Built on CU Boulder Innovations in FYs 2022-24
Financing Type
Number of Financings
- Competition/Accelerator: 6
- Grant: 52
- Pre-Seed: 3
- Seed: 11
- Series A: 8
- Series B: 3
- Series C/D: 8
- PIPE: 1
- Loan: 1
- Bridge/Other: 6
- Merger/Acquisition: 2
Total Amount
- $793,000
- $80,595,000
- $4,300,000
- $3,941,818
- $108,300,000
- $187,000,000
- $472,400,000
- $65,000,000
- $189,000,000
- $59,500,000
- $62,500,000
- TOTAL: 101 financings with $1,233,329,818
Supporting University Innovators
Venture Partners collaborates with innovators to commercialize cutting-edge science in the following ways:
- Intellectual Property Management: Protecting transformative innovations and technologies.
- Entrepreneurial Training: Providing commercialization tools and resources.
- Funding: Offering grants and assisting with capital acquisition.
- Mentorship & Advising: Coaching innovators and startups on commercialization.
- Licensing & Industry Partnerships: Licensing and bringing research to market.
CU Boulder is a leader in turning scientific breakthroughs into successful businesses, as evidenced by its record-breaking year for startups.
CU Boulder’s innovation efforts are highlighted by several major initiatives and awards:
- Elevate Quantum: CU Boulder is a key partner in Elevate Quantum, which received a Tech Hub Phase 2 implementation award, unlocking over $127 million in funding.
- Climate Resilience Engine: The Colorado-Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine was awarded up to $160 million over ten years.
- Record Research Funding: Researchers attracted a record $742.2 million in fiscal year 2023–24.
Turning Science into Startups
CU Boulder’s momentum in startup formation is significant, nearly doubling in recent years.
Notable Spin-Offs and Success Stories
Ball Aerospace: A longstanding partnership that launched CU’s first commercial spin-off.
SomaLogic: Revolutionized protein discovery methods.
Programs for Innovators
Venture Partners offers various programs designed to support researchers and entrepreneurs:
- Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator: Connects technologies with entrepreneurs.
- Ascent Deep Tech Accelerator: An accelerator for research teams.
- National Science Foundation I-Corps Hub: Cultivates innovations and ventures.
- Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop: An intro to the I-Corps methodology.
- Research-to-Market (R2M) Customer Discovery Program: I-Corps program for customer discovery.
Venture Partners’ Impact
- 144 Innovations disclosed
- 94 Licenses and options
- 36 Startups launched
Venture Partners continues to empower innovators and drive the commercialization of groundbreaking research, cementing CU Boulder’s role as a national leader in innovation and entrepreneurship.
