The University of Colorado Boulder reached a new milestone in fiscal year 2023-24 by launching 35 startup companies based on university innovations. This achievement broke CU Boulder’s previous record of 20 startups in FY 2021. Venture Partners at CU Boulder is the commercialization arm for the university.
It is central to transforming new inventions and discoveries into real-world impact. This significant leap from launching just four to six startups annually a decade ago shows years of strategic investment in entrepreneurship. Data published by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) from FYs 1990-2023 highlights leading institutions in university-led startups.
Recently, Stanford launched 38 startups in 2022, while MIT launched 32 in 2020. Full data for FY 2024 from AUTM is expected in late 2025. “Universities spinning out similar numbers of startups have significantly larger research budgets feeding their innovation pipeline,” says Bryn Rees, associate vice chancellor for innovation and partnerships.
“CU Boulder shines in efficiency: the number of startups we launch per dollar of funding. With 34 startups out of CU Boulder in FY 2024, that’s 4.7 startups per $100 million of funding—a top result among leading universities and a real credit to our approach.”
Through strategic planning and entrepreneurial thinking, the Venture Partners team has redefined how academic research translates into impactful businesses. “Our journey reflects years of careful planning, experimentation, and a relentless commitment to supporting our startup founders,” says Rees.
CU Boulder’s collaborative ethos and community values have spearheaded this national impact. Venture Partners prioritizes the experience and development of its founders—primarily faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students. Innovations like Licensing with EASE simplify the startup process with pre-negotiated intellectual property licensing terms.
cu boulder’s startup success milestone
This approach reduces administrative friction, allowing founders to focus on building their ventures. Additionally, tailored mentorship and long-term support foster an environment where new founders thrive.
Recognizing the distinct challenges academic founders face, Venture Partners offers a comprehensive suite of resources from idea to launch. The Center for Translational Research (CTR) helps bridge the “valley of death” between early-stage research and commercialization with comprehensive support for researchers applying for grants that cater to startups. Venture Partners integrates resources across the university and community.
The National Science Foundation I-Corps Hub: West Region programming offers startup training to researchers, while the Lab Venture Challenge (LVC) awards over $1.25 million in proof-of-concept grants annually in partnership with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). The 35 startups launched in FY 2024 span diverse industries, from clean energy to biotech. Among them is Mana Battery, founded on research from Chunmei Ban’s lab, developing sodium-based batteries as a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion technology.
Over the past decade, CU Boulder has spun out several battery-focused startups, collectively creating hundreds of jobs and attracting over $1 billion in investment to Colorado. CU Boulder is also a growing international leader in quantum and healthcare technologies. One new startup is developing technology created by Jun Ye and Qizhong Liang to detect diseases via breath analysis, based on the Nobel Prize-winning frequency comb technology.
Another standout, Mesa Quantum, emerged from programming at Venture Partners. It matches graduate students with novel inventions, such as an advanced atomic clock from Svenja Knappe’s lab, ushering in the next generation of chip-scale atomic clocks and quantum sensors. CU Boulder’s success is bolstered by recent initiatives like the NSF Colorado-Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine Elevate Quantum Tech Hub designations.
These efforts enhance CU Boulder’s capacity to attract top talent, secure funding, and continue its trajectory as a leader in innovation and startup success.
