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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.

2020

  • 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 Captis Biotechnology, Inc. Captis is an early-stage Oregon diagnostics company that develops and commercializes discoveries that address significant disease and pharmaceutical detection and monitoring challenges. The company's vision is to develop enabling products that will allow it to become a global leader in major disease diagnostics.
  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company FluxMagic, Inc. FluxMagic is a technology startup company from Portland State University. The company develops magnetic gear systems that could be deployed in the clean energy and transportation sectors.
  • Facilitator Fund award to startup company AirOmatix, Inc. AirOmatix is a biotechnology startup company from Portland State University. The company's fundamental technology is based on a new method of separating oxygen and other gasses from the air. The technology uses a reaction driven by light to trap oxygen in a chemical species. The company is exploring developing highly-efficient, low-cost oxygen concentrators for medical and recreational purposes. The company is also exploring developing technology for food storage applications.
  • 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.