Polsky Announces Cohort 4 of Its Deep Tech Accelerator, Compass

Compass participants receive ecosystem introductions, mentorship, and educational training, and have the opportunity to access additional talent and funding for their ventures. (Image: iStock.com/metamorworks)

The Polsky Center is pleased to announce Cohort 4 of the Compass deep tech accelerator program, which includes several startups working to commercialize research across various industries.

“Cohort four of the Compass welcomes ventures working on novel therapeutics including stem cell therapy and an oncology drug delivery platform, and another advancing medical device technology, which will be the first-of-its-kind to participate in the program,” said Shyama Majumdar, associate director of Polsky Science Ventures.

“We are excited by the continued diversity of verticals represented by the Compass and look forward to the continued success of the participants – past, present, and future,” added Kim Kieras, associate director of the Compass and science programs at Polsky.

Compass Cohort 4 includes:

• Alnair Therapeutics // Alnair Therapeutics is developing a lactate-inducible drug platform for cancer treatment. To enhance efficacy while reducing the toxicity of cancer treatments, the startup has leveraged the well-established Warburg effect of solid tumors and designed a novel lactate-inducible drug release platform to deliver therapeutics specifically to tumor sites.
• FLOW Medical // FLOW Medical is developing an all-in-one device specifically engineered to enable diagnostic-quality pulmonary angiography, catheter-directed thrombolysis of PE, and real-time pressure monitoring throughout the duration of thrombolytic infusion.
• INOFA // INOFA is working on ovary rejuvenation using human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. The technology aims to treat women with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) through intra-ovarian injection of clinical-grade allogenic Bone Marrow Stem Cells (BMSC) in vitro that expanded on the current Good Manufacturing Protocol (cGMP) and/or autologous BMSCs.
• Lismikro // Lismikro is creating control and readout electronics to enable million-qubit computing systems. This technology is a scalable modular system addressing the hybrid integration challenge. The module matches the footprint of the qubit plane and readout and control plane, which includes a vertically hybrid module with four layers at scaling temperatures
• OrisDX // OrixDX seeks to help alleviate the burden of cancer morbidity globally through greater access to non-invasive diagnostics and screening resulting in early detection of head and neck cancers. The company’s first product in development is a novel saliva-based molecular diagnostics test to detect pre-cancers and cancers of the oral cavity.

Joining this cohort is a guest participant from Argonne National Laboratory, TRACER. The team is developing Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA), a laser-based atom trap, to selectively capture and detect isotopes of interest, including ⁸¹Kr and ⁸⁵Kr. The novel and unique technique, developed at Argonne National Laboratory, features unprecedented sensitivity and broad applications in geoscience, geochemistry, and other areas.

Designed for early-stage startups and technologies, the Compass draws on expertise from across the University ecosystem, connecting teams from the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and Fermi National Accelerator with Business Development Fellows from the Chicago Booth School of Business.

Teams are led by business development fellows who collaborate closely with the founding scientific team who have created these innovative technologies and who have set forth a vision for the company.