CU startup accelerator Embark seeks 2024 cohort applicants

BOULDER — The Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator is looking for applicants to join its 2024 cohort, but they must complete an application by June 9.

The announcement of the opening of applications was made Monday during Boulder Startup Week by officials from Venture Partners at CU Boulder, the commercialization and technology-transfer arm of the University of Colorado Boulder, which created Embark in March 2023 to match business minds outside the university with breakthrough inventions created within its walls and provide those ventures with funding.

The winning pitches will get salary support and will be eligible for startup resources available through Venture Partners including grant funding toward development of the startup’s technology into a product and the customer discovery program.

CU Boulder conducts around $700 million in research and development each year, generating a huge amount of breakthrough innovation. The funding stream for Embark is fueled by grants from CU Boulder and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

The inaugural Embark 2023 gave rise to 10 new deep-tech startups, several of which already have won grants and raised dilutive funding. Members of that cohort, dubbed “Entrepreneurs in Residence” or EIRs, showed off 10 innovations in January at the inaugural Embark Showcase, sharing progress on progress on startups spanning diverse sectors such as biotechnology, quantum science, advanced materials and aerospace.

After the June 9 application deadline for the 2024 cohort, prospective EIRs will be notified by June 14 whether they are being advanced in the program. Between June 18 and Aug. 15, the advanced EIR applicants will identify the innovations around which they’re building their companies, and a pitch competition will be held Aug. 15.

The EIR positions will extend from approximately Sept. 1 to Feb. 28.

Embark companies can participate in the university’s startup accelerators such as the Ascent Deep Tech Accelerator, funding competitions such as the Lab Venture Challenge and New Venture Challenge, and investor networks (including events such as Destination Startup.

Startups in the 2023 cohort included:

• Regyn Bio, which is bringing to market a microwave-based pyrolysis system.
•  Click, which is marketing a small ear device that provides hands-free computer control that allows users to communicate by “typing” on their teeth.
• BioSensor Solutions, which has developed a biodegradable 2D printed soil sensor that provides real-time measurement data of soil health directly at the source in the field.
• Coaterra, which developed a coated and tunable stent to reduce blood-vessel damage and induce quick healing.
• PrecisionTerra, which is marketing a software solution that only requires a firmware update to improve the signal strength of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers in urban environments.
• Vitawave Tech, which has developed a wireless in-ear blood pressure measuring device for intermittent and continuous monitoring.
• Antibiotic Adjuvants, which developed adjuvants for multiple drug-resistant bacteria.
• Green Steel Environmental, which is developing sustainable additives that it says can revolutionize the wastewater-recovery industry.
• Whisper Energy, which has a wireless sensor platform for home and commercial building energy management.
• Flair, which is marketing a breathalyzer capable of detecting molecules in breath or air samples for fast detection of diseases and contaminants.