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University Venture Development Fund Awards

Portland State University’s Office of Innovation & Intellectual Property uses University Venture Development Funds to support projects and startup companies with the potential to increase the impact of PSU innovations, thanks to generous gifts from many donors.

2024

  • Facilitator Fund award to Henna, LLC.  Henna is a no-code platform to run audits on internal and external-facing documentation to look for fairness, inclusivity, and safety according to an institution's own internal guiding documents (strategic plan, policies and procedures, and management directives). In collaboration with leading artificial intelligence experts, Henna is actively working on multiple projects to close the gap between theoretical AI safety advancements and their practical application to create tools which will empower organizations to use AI responsibly and effectively.

2023

  • Facilitator Fund supplemental award to StoneStable LLC. Supplemental award made to StoneStable to perform necessary sample and safety testing needed to pursue additional investment funding for products in the company's pipeline. 

2021

  • Facilitator Fund award to Magwire, LLC. Magire is a semiconductor materials company which utilizes magnetically-coated nanowires to form highly-controlled electrical connections at the nanoscale as a fundamental layer for building control surfaces and display technologies on transparent surfaces. The award is provided to Magwire to pursue further optimization of conductivity within its transparent nano layer as a demonstration project for potential partnering with semiconductor partners in discussion with the founding members of the company.

2020

  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company FluxMagic, Inc. FluxMagic is a startup that engineers magnetomechanical solutions which utilize proprietary and patented magnetic gearing, adjustable spring and adjustable counterbalance technologies developed at PSU. FluxMagic is currently partnered with several commercial firms and developing prototypes for renewable energy solutions (wind and wave generation) and has lead or participated in SBIR awards from NASA and the Department of Energy, and is working Sandia National Labs on advanced energy harvesting solutions. FluxMagic's technologies provide significant benefits over traditional mechanical-only solutions, including lower maintenance costs, less activation force necessary to begin rotation or other movement, and since there is no physical connection of the magnetomechanical parts, significantly reduced wear and increased lifetime.
  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company Captis Biotechnology, Inc. Captis Biotechnology, Inc. is an early-stage Oregon diagnostics company, with the mission of commercializing discoveries that address significant challenges in disease and pharmaceutical detection and monitoring. The company is developing products that will allow Captis to become a global leader in major disease diagnostics. Captis’ founding scientists have a successful track record of company development in the biomedical space and are currently pursuing scaleup of diagnostic kits to enable medical researchers to investigate new methods of detecting and treating cancer, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s.
  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company AirOmatix, Inc. AirOmatix is an early-stage biotechnology-startup company. The company is scaling up an oxygen capture system which utilizes low-cost materials to pull oxygen from ambient air and concentrate it for use in small devices; larger-scale devices may be utilized by industry as an alternative to shipping concentrated oxygen from large-scale facilities. AirOmatix's first product is an oxygen concentrator device developed specifically to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by providing supplemental oxygen systems for use in homebound and ambulatory patients. AirOmatix is currently funded by the National Science Foundation to pursue final prototyping of their initial product.
  • Facilitator Fund award to ThermoCap Laboratories, LLC. ThermoCap Laboratories is an early stage biomedical company utilizing a proprietary platform for analyzing plasma proteins to determine certain patient bio characteristics and bolster pharmaceutical research. ThermoCap's technology is a unique methodology for analyzing plasma proteins, particularly human serum albumin, to assess generic ligand binding. This approach is founded on the fundamental property that binding of drug candidates to one or more of the plasma proteins can be detected by their influences on thermodynamic stabilities of the proteins they bind. This has led to highly beneficial results in identifying optimal drug candidates and commercialization SBIR award from the National Institutes of Health.Facilitator Fund award to startup company Lite Devices, Inc. Lite Devices is an early-stage startup company that develops distributed and autonomous wildfire detection systems. The technology detects a forest fire's signature traits and sends this information, along with time, date, temperature, and GPS coordinates, to cloud-based servers. The data allows agencies that monitor fire activity to react to fire events faster and monitor larger areas for a lower cost.
  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company StoneStable, Inc. StoneStable develops silica-based technologies to stabilize vaccines and other biologicals. The lead stabilization application for vaccines seeks to disrupt the vaccine industry by eliminating the need for products to be transported at cold temperatures and reduce vaccine product wastage.

2019

  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company ELEX Biotech, LLC. ELEX Biotech develops drugs that aim to treat Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), a condition characterized by an abnormal heart rhythm. The company plans to file for Orphan Designation and take advantage of FDA assistance and accelerated approval for its initial market entry with a treatment for CPVT; specialty (pediatric/pediatric cardiology) market with projected peak revenues of ~$350M (US, G5, Japan). We have demonstrated in vivo efficacy in a mouse model of CPVT and complete a significant preclinical assessment of our compounds' drug-like properties (ADME/Toxicology) to select a lead and backups for further drug development. The next step in optimizing our lead candidate and the main objective of this project is to perform a salt screen. The goal is to select a salt form with acceptable chemical stability, solubility, and physical form to move forward to IND-enabling studies. Data from these studies are used to file an Investigational New Drug application for FDA as a prelude to first-in-human studies.
  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company Titania Purification, Inc. Titania Purification was founded on researching a novel water purification technology developed at Portland State University. This technology has a well-demonstrated record of achievement: first with an innovative design that improved the photocatalytic glass's energy efficiency by more than 500%, and second by demonstrating scalability with a pilot system that increased throughput to 45 times that of the lab-scale device. The UVDF Facilitator Funds will enable Titania Purification to start-up operations and begin a non-dilutive funding acquisition course that will create a solidly founded and well-positioned company.

2018

  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company Stark Street Materials Corporation. Stark Street Materials Corporation (SSMC) has been incorporated to commercialize a bismuth technology developed at Portland State University to enable the production of substantially lighter-weight, higher- shielding, and lower toxicity radiation shielding aprons. This new shielding material will be cost-competitive with lead garments and fill a market need as voiced by doctors and nurses who wear lead shielding garments for a substantial portion of their workday.

2016

  • Promotion Fund award to support PSU Impact Entrepreneurs design, launch, and manage a 2017-18 pilot cohort for the Social Innovation Incubator.
  • Promotion Fund award to PSU Center for Entrepreneurship. The Center for Entrepreneurship fosters educational opportunities and economic development by creating a robust, collaborative infrastructure for PSU entrepreneurship.
  • Development Fund award to Professor Jun Jiao and Ph.D. student Simon Fowler. Dr. Jiao and Mr. Fowler are developing a photocatalytic water purification system that overcomes key challenges in similar product designs. Their patent-pending technology deploys geometric designs that allow for the symmetrical combination of LED illumination and photocatalytic material, resulting in high-efficiency water purification.
  • Development Fund award to Professor Erik Sanchez. Dr. Sanchez is developing an inexpensive, desktop electron microscope intended for educational use in classrooms.
  • Promotion Fund award to support Launch in 9, a multidisciplinary capstone program that provides a real-world learning experience that helps technology and business students gain the skills and working business knowledge they need to succeed in today’s competitive job market and startup community—while meeting PSU graduation requirements.

2015

  • Facilitator Fund award to PSU startup company Diatomix Inc. Diatomix Inc. has developed, tested, and demonstrated the feasibility of patented bioengineered nanotechnology that actively and continuously improves indoor air quality when incorporated into building materials like paint.
  • Promotion Fund award to the Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science's 'Beta Project.' The Beta Project allows students to obtain funding and other resources to support their own project ideas.

2014

  • Facilitator Fund award to PSU startup company DesignMedix, Inc. DesigMedix, Inc. develops drugs to address the large medical need caused by the rapid rise in drug resistance in multiple diseases. Focus is on globally-important infectious diseases such as malaria, where additional drugs are urgently needed.
  • Facilitator Fund award to PSU startup company Elex Biotech, Inc. Elex Biotech develops new drugs targeting the Ca2+ leak associated with ventricular arrhythmias, the leading cause of heart disease.
  • Development Fund award for promoting the development of the "Total Employer Cost of Compensation Tool." This tool, developed in the Center for Public Service at Portland State University, is used by municipalities in Oregon to calculate the total cost to hire an employee.

2013

  • Facilitator Fund award to PSU startup company SweetSense, Inc. SweetSense, Inc., is developing low-power, remotely programmable sensors. Their initial focus is on the monitoring of technologies deployed in the developing world. The funds will be used to ramp up business development efforts to secure and expand customers and partnerships.
  • Facilitator Fund award to PSU startup company Hawthorne Materials Corp. Hawthorne Materials Corp. is developing x-ray opaque materials for the medical device and imaging market. Their initial focus is on foreign retained objects - items accidentally left in the body after surgery. The funds will be used to complete tests to move their devices closer to FDA approval.
  • Promotion Fund award to PSU Center for Entrepreneurship. The Center for Entrepreneurship fosters educational opportunities and economic development by creating a robust, collaborative infrastructure for PSU entrepreneurship.

2012

  • Facilitator Fund award to PSU startup company Pacific NanoSciences. Pacific NanoSciences is developing a handheld point-of-care product for the rapid, ultra-sensitive detection of diseases. Their initial focus is on the identification of cardiovascular risk factors. The funds will be used to create an in-depth financial model based on market research and comprehensive competitive analysis to assist in demonstrating a business case that is appealing to Series A investors.
  • Facilitator Fund award to PSU startup company Virtual Device Technologies. Virtual Device Technologies is developing software based on research at PSU and building a product with a multinational alpha customer. The funds will be used to hire a part-time software developer.

2010

  • Promotion Fund grant to create marketing materials for the new documentary Guilty Except for Insanity. This documentary has had regional showings to great acclaim, and IIP has worked with an agent to pitch the documentary to broadcast and other networks. The funds allowed for creating a professionally produced “trailer” for the movie, which now helps demonstrate the movie’s important analysis of the medical treatment received by convicted criminals who plead “insanity”.
  • Promotion Fund grant to support travel to limited companies to demonstrate a patented technology in computer security, which has garnered interest from e-mail providers and other companies.
  • Development Fund grant helps construct a bench-top prototype to showcase a new kind of microscope to industry partners and collaborators. The new device and methodology are geared towards imaging material and fault detection. The project has received feedback from microscope manufacturers and has an allowed patent with more forthcoming soon.

2009

  • Development Fund grant to perform initial proof of concept and animal studies for compounds with the potential to be drug candidates for treating heart arrhythmias. The data will support additional grant filings and the formation of a start-up company focused on the further development of the compounds.
  • Development Fund grant to support developing a field-ready prototype of a low-cost, fast, and accurate sensor for measuring nitrogen dioxide and other gases. The prototype may, in turn, support the formation of a start-up company focused on the further development of these sensors.