Lab Venture Challenge

Lab Venture Challenge

Accelerating innovation through entrepreneurial training and funding of up to $125,000.

Through the Lab Venture Challenge (LVC), top innovations from University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder, Denver and 欧美口爆视频 Springs compete for grants of up to $125,000. LVC supports projects that address a commercial need, have a clear path to a compelling market and have strong scientific support. These grants are funded by Venture Partners at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder and the 欧美口爆视频 Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) Advanced Industries Program.

LVC has funded more than 107 projects through 54 new deep-tech startup companies; collectively, these companies have raised over $349 million to date in follow-on financing. LVC demonstrates a powerful way to advance innovative research and translate it into impactful business ventures. Applications open in July each year, and in October, LVC culminates in two evening showcases where finalists will deliver pitches to a panel of business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors. These final showcases are the can't-miss event of the year to see 欧美口爆视频's next wave of breakthrough innovations!

Questions?

Joshua Bennet

Joshua Bennett
Senior Licensing Manager and Director of the Lab Venture Challenge

Contact

LVC Showcases

Join Venture Partners at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder as we award up to $1.25 million to top 欧美口爆视频 innovators. Fourteen teams will each pitch for grants up to $125,000 to support projects with commercial potential in the Biosciences and the Physical Sciences Showcases. Lab Venture Challenge is the can't-miss event of the year to see 欧美口爆视频's next wave of breakthrough innovations!

Showcases Details   

  • Physical Sciences Showcase: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 5:30-8 p.m.
    • Add to Calendar:&苍产蝉辫;鈥媩 | 
  • Biosciences Showcase: Thursday, Oct. 24, 5:30-8 p.m.
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, 2000 Central Ave #100, Boulder

The showcases are free with registration and open to all. Attendees must register in advance. Seating is limited, and at-the-door registration is not guaranteed. Doors open to attendees at 5 p.m.

Compete in LVC

The application for the 2024 competition is now open! Review the information below about LVC eligibility, details and deadlines. Interested applicants are encouraged to begin preparation as soon as possible.

2023 Dates & Deadlines

2024 Dates and Deadlines

Program Preparation

  • Competition Information Session鈥
  • 鈥Applicants are encouraged to reach out to their Venture Partners contact with any questions about eligibility and/or to discuss ways in which their applications may be strengthened, especially with regard to the commercialization section of the application.

Application Dates

  • Friday, 鈥婣ug. 16, 5 p.m.: Deadline to disclose innovations
  • Friday, Aug. 16, 5 p.m.: 欧美口爆视频 Denver deadline to contact your pre-award administrator for your respective school/college.
  • Thursday, Aug. 29, 5 p.m.: 欧美口爆视频 Boulder and UCCS deadline to contact your Sponsored Projects Office about your request for budget
    • 欧美口爆视频 Boulder applicants
    • UCCS applicants: Contact the .
  • Friday, Sept. 13, 11:59 p.m.: Deadline to apply to LVC鈥 (Log in directly through this link to access the 2024 application; do not select "Lab Venture Challenge 2023" from the menu bar)
  • Friday, Sept. 27: Finalists Announced

Program Dates

  • Oct. 2, noon-2 p.m., Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building (JSCBB), Room B115: Pitch Academy
  • Week of Oct. 7: Pitch Practice 1 (in person on the 欧美口爆视频 Boulder campus)
  • Week of Oct. 14: Pitch Practice 2 (in person on the 欧美口爆视频 Boulder campus)
  • Wednesday, Oct. 23, 5:30-8 p.m.: Physical Sciences Showcase鈥
  • Thursday, Oct. 24, 5:30-8 p.m.: BioSciences Showcase鈥

Post-Award Requirements

  • Sept. 4-11: Research-to-Market (R2M) Customer Discovery Program鈥Apply Now
  • Nov. 1, 8 and 15: Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop鈥Apply Now
  • TBD/Nov.: State of 欧美口爆视频 Questionnaire Deadline
  • April 2025: Awards will be distributed to winners. This date is an estimate based on past awards and may change by one to two months.

Applicant Eligibility

LVC applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • 欧美口爆视频 Boulder and UCCS investigators are eligible to apply. 欧美口爆视频 Denver investigators in physical sciences and engineering are eligible to apply.
    • 欧美口爆视频 Denver investigators in biosciences and all 欧美口爆视频 Anschutz investigators should explore funding opportunities with .
  • The primary applicant must be a 欧美口爆视频 Boulder professor or post-doc or an eligible 欧美口爆视频 Denver or UCCS professor or post-doc who would qualify as a grant Principal Investigator.
  • The primary applicant must have submitted their Invention Disclosure Form to Venture Partners on or before the deadline.
  • The subject innovation must fall within one of the seven defined areas: advanced manufacturing, aerospace, bioscience, electronics, energy and natural resources, infrastructure engineering, or technology and information.
  • Applicants are strongly encouraged to complete the NSF I-CorpsTM Hub: West Region's Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop, an experiential program that helps teams create and refine a value proposition using the customer discovery process. Historically, LVC applicants unable to address these topics in detail do not receive funding.
  • There is a $125,000 maximum that an applicant may receive from LVC for a single invention. If significant progress has been made towards a new product or a new venture since a prior LVC award for the same invention, a new proposal with advanced aims will be considered, subject to 欧美口爆视频 Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT) rules. Preapproval is required if you have already received LVC or other OEDIT funding. Please reach out to Joshua Bennett, director of LVC. Multiple applications for different inventions are permitted.
  • If the applicant has received a prior award under the OEDIT Advanced Industries Proof of Concept Program for the same invention that is the subject of a new LVC application, the total amount of funding, consisting of the present application plus the prior award(s), cannot exceed $150,000 from the state of 欧美口爆视频. State funding accounts for 75% of each LVC award.
  • If the invention is already licensed/optioned, the licensee/optionee company cannot have raised more than $500,000 in investment capital. Where a company has raised over $500,000, the OEDIT Advanced Industries Accelerator (AIA)  is a more appropriate resource.
  • Two concurrent OEDIT awards are not allowed. If the Principal Investigator (PI) or the innovation currently has an LVC or an OEDIT award, that award must be completed before the LVC Showcases of the current application year.

Funding and Budgeting

  • Up to $125,000* (including 8% F&A on total direct costs for the state fund portion only) is available per award in total costs, consisting of two subcategories:

Proof of Concept

  • Up to $100,000* is available for answering critical experimental questions that will help to validate the technology for commercial applications.

Business Development

  • 鈥鈥婾p to $25,000 is available in support of early commercialization activities.
  • Applicants must include $10,000 for patent expenses.
  • The remaining business development funds are often used for:
    • Conferences
    • Customer discovery
    • Accelerator fees
    • Travel ($5,000 maximum recommended) to/from any of the above
    • Startup formation expenses
    • Website development
    • Market assessments
    • Regulatory-related consultants or costs incurred during the award term
  • Other business development expenses are eligible, but these funds cannot be used to fund technical development or proof of concept.

*Funding Details

Project duration can be up to 24 months for physical science awards and up to 36 months for bioscience awards.

State funding requires a match of 25% of the total project costs (which is equivalent to 33.33% of the requested state funds). For example, an applicant requesting $125,000 in total funds would request $93,750 from the State and $31,250 in matching funds. Matching funds are available from Venture Partners only for 欧美口爆视频 Boulder applicants. For eligible UCCS and UCD applicants, matching funds are often provided by lab startup funds or the researcher鈥檚 department. Matching funds cannot be sourced from federal grants or in-kind services.

Funding under LVC comes from 欧美口爆视频's Advanced Industries Accelerator (AIA) Program, Venture Partners and a share of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder鈥檚 IP licensing revenues. The observed funding rate over the last three years was approximately 25% over four years.

The AIA program operates within the State of 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). 欧美口爆视频 receives a pre-allocation from the total available funding.

Requirements for Finalists and Awardees

Pitch Coaching and Practice

All selected finalists are required to participate in a pitch training workshop called Pitch Academy prior to the final showcase (more below). Pitch Academy teaches high-tech entrepreneurs and startup founders how to engage a business-centric audience and attract funding. Following the workshop, finalists will then participate in two mandatory pitch practice sessions to receive critical feedback from 欧美口爆视频 Boulder mentors and the Venture Partners team.

Live Pitch at Final Showcases

LVC culminates in a two-night final showcase, with one event featuring bioscience innovations and a second event for physical science and engineering innovations. Selected finalists will deliver 7-minute live pitches to a panel of business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and intellectual property experts. The final showcases are open to the business and university community and serve as a forum for finalists to showcase their innovations.

Required NSF I-Corps Hub: West Region's Customer Discovery Programs

Applicants are strongly encouraged to complete the Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Program before applying to LVC. Starting Blocks is a 3-day customer discovery workshop designed to help scientists and engineers of all types find a market for their innovation by conducting meaningful customer interviews. 

All LVC awardees who have not completed Starting Blocks before applying to LVC must complete the program during the award term. If a startup is contemplated or underway, the LVC awardees are required to complete the Research-to-Market (R2M) Customer Discovery Program within the award term. This greatly strengthens eligibility for future funding and training programs and is a deeper dive into the process of customer discovery to find a product-market fit鈥攃ritical to taking cutting-edge technology into the marketplace.
 
Failure to comply with these requirements means that the team will no longer be eligible for future funding opportunities from or managed by Venture Partners.

鈥Ascent Deep Tech Accelerator

Finalists that have begun or plan to commercialize their innovation through a startup company are encouraged to enroll in the Ascent Deep Tech Accelerator during the award term. This program will provide critical training and early milestone accomplishment, including incorporation, founders agreements, Intellectual Property (IP) agreements (option, license), and coaching to secure further funding. 

Lab Venture Challenge (LVC) and the 欧美口爆视频 Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT)

LVC is run internally at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder and while it does benefit from Advanced Industries Accelerator (AIA) funding, is separate from the statewide AIA competition run by 欧美口爆视频's OEDIT. LVC and statewide AIA programs have different timelines, funding amounts and other details.

To apply to LVC, please only use the details provided on this page and within the application site. Please do not use the application guidelines on the OEDIT AIA website if applying for LVC. If you are interested in applying for the statewide AIA program, . Please also note that if you apply to and win both the LVC grant and the AIA Proof of Concept grant, you will have to choose one award.

Need guidance?

  • Your Venture Partners Licensing Manager can provide you with details on Intellectual Property (IP) expenses, suggestions for how to best allocate your Business Development budget and connect you with entrepreneurial training opportunities.

For general questions about LVC:

If you need help with or have questions about your budget:

For any post-award questions about your grant no-cost extensions, subcontracts, budget changes, Principal Investigator (PI) changes, Statement of Work (SOW) changes, etc.,

  • Please contact Beatrice Nobles, OCG's contract officer assigned to all 欧美口爆视频 Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) awards.

Frequently Asked Questions

No; this is the deadline for new invention disclosures to be submitted Venture Partners. If you have already submitted an invention disclosure(s) for the technology that you are using to apply for LVC, then you do not need to submit anything new.

Joshua Bennett, director of LVC, 303-735-7615, joshua.bennett@colorado.edu

Past LVC Winners and Finalists

We are proud to honor the past winners and participants of LVC. Former funding recipients have used LVC to prepare for Destination Startup庐 and , as a springboard into leading accelerator programs such as Techstars and Innosphere, develop ideas through NSF I-CorpsTM Hub: West and Catalyze 欧美口爆视频 and raise investment rounds.

2023 LVC Winners and Finalists

$132,505 Funding Awardees 

  • TorDan (previously MDS II) is developing a rotational nail system as an improved technique to correct rotational alignment for femoral surgery. Team: Jacob Segil (Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering) and Omer Mei-Dan (, 欧美口爆视频 Anschutz Medical Campus).

$125,000 Funding Awardees 

  • Mycobacteria Therapeutics is working toward a new treatment for stress resilience and mental health with oral supplements of beneficial mycobacteria. Team: Christopher Lowry (Integrative Physiology), Adam Bohr and Chris Stamper (both, ).
  • ImmunoLogic is developing first-of-their-kind, site-specific therapeutics for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Team:  Linda Watkins and Suzanne Fulgham (both Psychology and Neuroscience), Peter Grace (, ImmunoLogic), John Forsayeth and Raymond Chavez (both ImmunoLogic).
  • Nausica Arnoult (Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology) presented a new approach to treating HR-deficient cancer with targeted APE2 inhibitors. Her team also included Xiang Wang (Chemistry and Kerri Ball (MCDB).
  • Meaghan Van Alstyne (Biochemistry) is working on a new treatment for dementia with peptide therapeutics targeting tau aggregation. Her team also included Roy Parker (BioFrontiers, Biochemistry) and Charles Hoeffer (Integrative Physiology).
  • Corey Neu (Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering) has developed a device for improved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of cartilage structure and mechanical function, allowing for the early detection of arthritis and cartilage repair.

Finalists

&苍产蝉辫;鈥$132,505 Funding Awardees 

  • Mana Battery is developing sodium-ion batteries that are cheaper and safer than standard lithium-ion ones. Team: Chunmei Ban, Nick Singstock and Tyler Evans (all Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering).

鈥$125,000 Funding Awardees 

Finalists

  • BoldRF鈥擳unable circulators for simultaneous transmit and receive radio-frequency phased array applications. Zoya Popovic, Laila Marzall and Stefan Stroessner (all Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering).
  • Icarus Quantum鈥擠eveloping the first deterministic photon entanglement generator to drastically boost quantum repeater protocols for long-range quantum networking. Poolad Imany (, ), Shuo Sun ().

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2022 LVC Winners and Finalists

&苍产蝉辫;鈥$125,000 Funding Awardees 

  • Sound Separations: A cell-based delivery system for drugs targeting solid tumors that do not respond well to existing cell therapies. Wyatt Shields, Katie Trese (both of Chemical and Biological Engineering); Alisa Lee-Sherick, MD (欧美口爆视频 Anschutz).
  • Graham Redweik, Principal Investigator Ding Xue (both of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology): A new derivative of resveratrol鈥攁 naturally occurring chemical compound in plants鈥攖o target mitochondrial endonuclease G to help treat both Parkinson鈥檚 disease and cancer. 
  • Nakul Sridhar, Principal Investigator Xiaoyun Ding (both of Mechanical Engineering): A penny-size device that can diagnose sickle cell disease and would dramatically broaden access to lifesaving treatments, especially in the developing world.
  • Won Park (Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering): A novel force sensor with many applications for medical providers, such as monitoring changes in tumor growth, heart tissue and joint repair.

$62,500 Funding Awardees 

  • Randall Shearer (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)); Imma Ferrer, Michael Thurman (both of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering): A new method of manufacturing cannabinoid acids to overcome key hurdles in commercializing cannabinoid-based (CBD) therapeutics.
  • Xiang Wang (Chemistry): Antibiotic adjuvants to re-sensitize drug-resistant bacteria and combat the rising antibiotic resistance crisis in medical care.

 $125,000 Funding Awardees 

  • Boulder Light Technologies: Air quality monitoring devices with rapid, on-site optical identification of toxics. Nazanin Hoghooghi (Mechanical Engineering)
  • Envyro Sensors: A low-cost and disposable sensor鈥攕imilar to diabetic test strips鈥攆or monitoring indoor horticulture and printed with special ink on a regular desktop printer. Greg Whiting (Mechanical Engineering); Elliot Strand (Materials Science & Engineering Program)
  • Nanoplasmonics, LLC: A portable device that uses ultrasensitive fluorescent biochemical sensors to detect mycotoxins, enabling mobile, lab-quality food safety testing at every stage of food production. Anatoliy Pinchuk (Physics & Energy Science, UCCS)
  • Twine: Data security, including internal fraud in the financial industry, with a novel blockchain-based protocol for distributed and immutable record keeping that 鈥渆ntwines鈥 data sources for transparent and 鈥渦nhackable鈥 data authentication. Jasper Palfree (Physics); Krister Shalm (Physics; Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering)

鈥$62,500 Funding Awardees 

  • Rishi Raj (Mechanical Engineering): A new 3D sintering process that will allow the same-day creation of dental implants straight from a device in the dentist鈥檚 office. 
  • Chembotix: A chemical-creating robot and an automated platform to dramatically speed up chemistry research and development. Kailey Shara (ATLAS Institute); Aditya Rengaswamy; Marshall Graybill (Mechanical Engineering); Carson Bruns (ATLAS Institute).

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2021 LVC Winners and Finalists
  • Nick Bottenus: New method for improving the quality and speed of ultrasound imaging
  • Camila Uzcategui (Audience Choice Award): Vitro3D鈥擝iomimetic 3D printed lung cancer organoids for drug discovery
  • Alexandra Whiteley: Novel therapeutic for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
  • Corey Neu: NatruGel鈥3D Printing of tissue matrix for drug screening and discovery
  • Simon Kalmus: Seedling Biosystems鈥擲prouting therapies from American farms
  • Liang He: BAuth鈥擝attery-enabled anti-theft vehicle immobilizer
  • Marin Iliev鈥: CANDi enabled ultrahigh speed and precision microscopy
  • Dan Dessau: Low vibration cryogenic platform for quantum applications
  • Kailey Shara(Audience Choice Award): A versatile robotic system for automating organic chemistry operations in the laboratory
  • Cory Pecinovsky: Polaris Electro-Optics Inc.鈥擣ast photonic switching with fluid ferroelectrics
  • Andrew Goodwin: New biomass pretreatments to replace toxic petroleum additives in coatings and adhesives

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2020 LVC Winners and Finalists
  • 鈥Brian DeDecker: Gene-Lock鈥擜 Novel Approach to Gene Assembly
  • Xiaoyun Ding: Lab-on-a-Chip鈥擜cousto Thermal Shift Assay for Fast and Label-free Protein Analysis
  • Jerome Fox: Using Microbes to Drug the Undruggable
  • Robert McLeod: Vitro3D鈥擝iomimetic 3D Printed Scaffolds for Drug Discovery (recipient of Bioscience Audience Choice Award)
  • Zoya Popovic: Non-invasive Compact Internal Body Thermometer
  • Mark Rentschler: Disposable Robotic Endoscope for Deep Enteroscopy
  • Jacob Segil: Hip Arthroscopy Surgical Instruments for Improved Patient Outcomes and Reduced Surgical Time

Winners

  • 鈥Mahmoud Hussein: Resonant Inclusions 鈥 A New Technology for Efficient Thermoelectric Conversion in Bulk Silicon
  • Michael Marshak: OTORO Energy 鈥 High Performance Battery Materials for Affordable Grid Scale Energy Storage (recipient of Physical Science Audience Choice Award)
  • Michael McGehee: Dynamic Smart Windows
  • Scott Palo: Hybrid Small Satellite Radio Frequency and Optical Communication System
  • Wil Srubar: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Building Materials

Finalists

  • Moncef Krarti: Adjustable Building Insulation
  • Bowen Li: Disrupting the Spectroscopy Market with Novel Bidirectional Fiber Laser

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2019 LVC Winners and Finalists

Winners

  • Xuedong Liu: Programmable Gectosomes for Delivery of Therapeutic Nucleic Acids and Proteins
  • Roy Parker: Exocure Therapeutics鈥擯ARN as a Target for Treatment of Specific Human Cancers 
  • Rafael Piestun: Ultrathin Endoscopes
  • Sara Sawyer: SickStick鈥擜 Saliva-Based Test for Infection (recipient of Bioscience Audience Choice Award)

Finalists

  • Jerome Fox: Think Bioscience鈥擡volution-Guided Drug Discovery
  • Wei Tan: Vascular Precision鈥擯recision Prohealing Coating for Vascular Implants

Winners

  • Zach Newman: Octave Photonics鈥擜 Tantala Photonics Platform 
  • Ivan Smalyukh: iFeather鈥擳ransparent Aerogels for Solar Heating and Greenhouse Applications (recipient of Physical Science Audience Choice Award)
  • Alireza Vahid: Theia鈥擭ext Generation Wireless Systems Antenna

Finalists

  • Chris Vargo: Socialcontext.ai鈥擜n AI-Powered Social Media Content Strategy Tool
  • Tam Vu: DenyTheSky鈥擯assive Drone Detection and Tracking

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2018 LVC Winners and Finalists

Winners

  • Anushree Chatterjee鈥擳herapies for Multidrug Resistant Bacterial Infections
  • Svenja Knappe鈥擜 Magnetographic Imaging Device for Early Detection of Cancer
  • Corey Neu鈥擭ext-Generation Dermal Fillers (recipient of Bioscience Audience Choice Award)
  • Ding Xue鈥擳herapies for Side Effects Caused by Radiation Therapy

Finalists

  • Douglas Chapnick鈥擯redicting Clinical Success and Failure of Therapeutic Drugs
  • Xuedong Li鈥擯rogrammable Designer Therapeutics
  • Tin Tin Su鈥擜 High Throughput Screen for Identifying Cancer Therapies
  • Wei Tan鈥擠esigning Personalized Vascular Devices

Winners

  • Mark Hernandez鈥擟orrosion Resistant Concrete Admixture
  • Timothy Morrissey鈥擜rtificial Muscles for the Future of Robotics and Automation (recipient of Physical Science Audience Choice Award)
  • Jeffrey Thayer鈥擠iscovering Shallow Water Hazards
  • Jeffrey Beyle and Qin Lv鈥擜ffordable Digital Tools for Small and Medium Manufacturers

Finalists

  • Donald David鈥 Quantum Plating Solutions
  • Aaron Palumbo鈥擟leaner, Cheaper Magnesium Production

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Thank You to Our LVC Financial Partners