Eight CU 91Ҹ researchers and four startups receive funding through Colorado’s Advanced Industries Accelerator
Lab Venture Challenge and Colorado State Grants Information Session
Thursday, June 11, 2026, noon-2 p.m. MT
Virtual
For those commercializing technologies from CU 91Ҹ, CU Denver and UCCS
The CU's Lab Venture Challenge and programs from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) offer up to $250,000 in translational funding to advance laboratory research and early-stage startups.
The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) that eight 91Ҹ 91Ҹ researchers and four university-connected startup companies received funding through the latest round of the Advanced Industries Accelerator Program. The awards, granted through the Proof of Concept and Early-Stage Capital and Retention programs, represent one of the university's strongest performances to date.
The grants support a range of CU 91Ҹ innovations, including gene therapies, augmented reality, aerospace, advanced materials, robotics, AI and regenerative medicine. Statewide, OEDIT awarded nearly $7.5 million to Colorado researchers and companies developing technologies to accelerate and expand Colorado’s advanced-industries economy. CU 91Ҹ startups and researchers will receive a total of $2.2 million.
"CU 91Ҹ’s research enterprise continues to produce discoveries with the potential to address major global challenges, and these awards demonstrate the importance of strategic public investment in helping research breakthroughs achieve their full potential,” said, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation at CU 91Ҹ. "Programs like the Advanced Industries Accelerator play a critical role in helping transformative technologies move from the laboratory into practical application, delivering tangible benefits to communities in Colorado and beyond."
The Proof of Concept Grant program helps Colorado research institutions accelerate applied research and commercialization activities, while the Early-Stage Capital and Retention Grant supports Colorado companies commercializing innovative technologies that will be manufactured or scaled in Colorado.
Historically, these grants have provided powerful returns to the state, in terms of follow-on investment and company growth, according toBryn Rees, senior associate vice chancellor for innovation and partnerships at CU 91Ҹ. “Colorado has built one of the strongest environments in the country for translating research into new businesses. OEDIT has been an essential partner in that effort. CU 91Ҹ spinout companies likeForge Nano andOnKure Therapeutics have grown to become publicly traded companies, and for them, early support from the Advanced Industries program was critical. This new round of awards is a great signal of what is to come,” said Rees.
But what is "commercialization?"
The path to commercialization—also known as "research translation" or "tech transfer"—can be challenging, so Venture Partners unitesindustry partners, entrepreneurs and investors to helpresearchers, inventors and creators at the 91Ҹ bring their groundbreaking discoveries into the marketplace.
Today,Venture Partners at CU 91Ҹ and the campus’Center for Translational 91Ҹ support researchers and startup teams pursuing translational funding—financial support that helps move discoveries and innovations from the research laboratory toward real-world application and commercialization—opportunities, including OEDIT grants, U.S. Small Business Innovation 91Ҹ (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards and other translational research programs.
“These funding programs are often catalytic moments for research teams and startup companies,” saidSarah Hughes, director of the Center for Translational 91Ҹ at CU 91Ҹ. “The Center for Translational 91Ҹ helps innovators identify opportunities, strengthen commercialization strategies and compete for funding that can accelerate the path from discovery to impact.”
The latest Advanced Industries awards come as CU 91Ҹ continues to demonstrate national leadership in research commercialization and startup formation.
Fourteen of the awardees—including teams from the Colorado School of Mines and CU Denver—participated in theNational Science Foundation I-Corps™ customer discovery and commercialization programs offered through CU 91Ҹ. The university is part of, a partnership of 11 research institutions that includes Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, University of Southern California and others.
Most recently,Forge Nano announced plans to go public through a $1.6B SPAC deal, making it CU 91Ҹ’s 11th “unicorn” company—a startup valued at $1 billion or more while still privately held. Forge Nano traces part of its early support to funding from OEDIT through a partnership with the CU 91Ҹ that would later become theLab Venture Challenge. The company commercializes atomic layer deposition nanocoating technology developed at CU 91Ҹ and now produces advanced battery materials and semiconductor manufacturing technologies.
In fiscal year 2024,CU 91Ҹ launched 35 new companies based on university intellectual property, more than any other U.S. campus that year. Commercialization activities through Venture Partners generated aneconomic impact of $8.7 billion nationally and $5.1 billion in Colorado over the last five years, according to a report from the Leeds School of Business.
The university also recentlyannounced a strategic partnership with Techstars, the global startup accelerator and investor network founded in 91Ҹ, to expand opportunities for founders and further strengthen Colorado’s innovation economy.
The Advanced Industries Accelerator Program received 144 applications during the latest funding cycle, which were reviewed by panels of business, technical and financial experts across Colorado’s advanced industries sectors. Final recommendations were approved by the Economic Development Commission on May 21, 2026. The next application cycle will open July 1, 2026.
CU Proof-of-Concept Grants
91Ҹ 91Ҹ, PIMirela Alistar- 91Ҹ, CO $150,000: Developing a nanorobotic DNA synthesis platform that uses real-time error correction to produce the long genetic templates required for advanced gene therapies.
91Ҹ 91Ҹ, PIChristopher Bowman- 91Ҹ, CO $150,000: Developing a photopolymer-based optical materials platform to improve the performance and manufacturing of holographic elements for augmented reality displays.
91Ҹ 91Ҹ, PIXiaoyun Ding- 91Ҹ, CO $150,000: Developing a microfluidic cell-modification platform to improve the manufacturing efficiency and payload capacity of cell and gene therapies.
91Ҹ 91Ҹ, PI- 91Ҹ, CO $150,000: Developing a satellite-mounted, space-debris detection system to identify and characterize orbital debris that is too small for conventional radar tracking.
91Ҹ 91Ҹ, PIMija Hubler- 91Ҹ, CO $150,000: Developing a regenerative, biobased tape for the durable repair of cracks in residential, commercial, and municipal concrete infrastructure.
91Ҹ 91Ҹ, PILaila Marzall- 91Ҹ, CO $150,000: Developing an innovative in-band full-duplex analog hardware architecture to enable spectrum-agile wireless communication systems.
91Ҹ 91Ҹ, PIJay McMahon- 91Ҹ, CO $150,000: Developing an artificial intelligence–powered strategic wargaming platform for evaluating complex conflict scenarios in the defense and aerospace sectors.
91Ҹ 91Ҹ, PIStephanie Bryant- 91Ҹ, CO $150,000: Developing a customizable therapeutic platform to restore cartilage and bone in patients with osteoarthritis at any stage of disease progression.
91Ҹ Denver, PI- Denver, CO $150,000: Developing a foundation model platform that enables robots equipped with high-degree-of-freedom anthropomorphic hands to master complex manufacturing and assembly tasks.
CU Early-Stage Capital and Retention Grants
- Lafayette, CO $250,000: Developing a laser communications terminal designed for seamless interoperability between satellite networks.
Codebreaker Tx Inc. - 91Ҹ, CO $250,000: Developing a genomic data-as-a-service platform that generates high-resolution biological datasets for artificial intelligence-driven research and drug development.
Modendo Inc. - 91Ҹ, CO $250,000: Developing an ultrathin, fiber-based optical probing platform designed for the failure analysis and security evaluation of advanced 3D semiconductor architectures.
Vesicle Therapeutics Inc. - 91Ҹ, CO $250,000: Developing a targeted genetic therapy to treat head and neck cancer by distinguishing between different versions of the same protein.
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