4 Teams Advance to the George Shultz Innovation Fund Finals
Innovation Fund associates present at the 2024 George Shultz Innovation Fund finals.
The spring 2025 George Shultz Innovation Fund finalists are working to scale quantum technologies, predict seizures, and discover new drugs.
Managed by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the George Shultz Innovation Fund provides up to $250,000 in investment funding for early-stage tech ventures from the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, and the Marine Biological Laboratory.
Register for the George Shultz Innovation Fund Finals on May 29th >>
The teams will pitch to the Innovation Fund Advisory Committee, which consists of advisors, entrepreneurs, and industry experts, during the finals event on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
The spring 2025 finalists are:
staC12 // staC12 is building an integrated diamond platform – thin-film single-crystal diamond bonded to a number of relevant materials, including silicon, sapphire, and fused silica – that enables the practical adoption of diamond in semiconductor and quantum applications.
- Alex High, assistant professor of molecular engineering, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
CavilinQ // CavilinQ is creating a fundamentally scalable quantum computing architecture based on precisely controlled arrays of neutral atoms interconnected via optical cavities.
- Shankar Menon, graduate student, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Theta Neurotech // Theta Neurotech is developing a near-invisible EEG patch that predicts and alerts patients of epileptic seizures before they occur.
- Truman Pierson, founder and CEO, alumnus, The College, and Naoum Issa, associate professor of neurology
PeptiForge // PeptiForge is creating a drug discovery platform that produces high-fidelity protein binders through a method that’s 50-times faster and 50-times less expensive than existing technologies.
- Bryan Dickinson, professor, Department of Chemistry
To date, the Innovation Fund has invested in more than 90 companies. Notable companies launched with the fund’s support include ExplORer Surgical, acquired by Global Healthcare Exchange; Super.Tech, acquired by ColdQuanta; OrisDx, which won the 2022 New Venture Challenge; Flow Medical, which recently secured $5 million in seed funding; and Alnair Therapeutics, which closed an oversubscribed $1+ million pre-seed funding round.
The core mission of the Innovation Fund is to help scientific founders turn their innovations into ventures that advance cutting-edge technologies, generate significant financial returns, and create lasting impact for humankind.