Polsky 10: Polsky Center partners with Current | Scaffold raises $15M | From pre-seed to Series C
| The Polsky 10 is a bi-weekly newsletter featuring 10 things to know from the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center. To get the Polsky 10 sent directly to your inbox every other Friday, sign up here >> |
| 1 // The Polsky Center and Current announce a new partnership to help accelerate water tech startups. |
| The Polsky Center and Chicago-based water innovation hub Current have expanded their partnership to launch the Great Lakes RENEW Scaling Lab, a new program designed to help early-stage water technology startups bring their innovations to market. Selected companies will receive nine months of discounted lab and office space at the UChicago Science Incubator at Hyde Park Labs, access to more than $2.5M in existing equipment, and connections to both the Polsky Center’s and Great Lakes RENEW’s technical, entrepreneurial, and commercialization networks. The inaugural cohort will include up to five startups working on solutions aligned with Great Lakes RENEW’s priorities, including recovering critical minerals from wastewater, eliminating harmful contaminants from drinking water, and other “waste-to-wealth” innovations. Applications are now open through November 13. Read more now. |
| 2 // Booth alum’s latest startup raises a $15M seed round. |
| Austin-based software startup Scaffold is working to modernize the residential construction industry with technology designed to help homebuilders operate more efficiently. Specifically, Scaffold’s platform connects to existing interfaces and provides a standardized space to check on the many moving parts of home site construction, including purchase orders and other field management trackers. Cofounded in 2024 by Ben Johnson, MBA ’16 — who launched his first startup, Spruce, while he was a part-time student at Booth — Scaffold recently raised $15M in seed funding from investors including homebuilding giants D.R. Horton and Pulte Homes. The company plans to use the new funding to grow its team and continue developing its software platform for residential builders. Read more now. |
| 3 // Four Polsky Center startups bringing innovative ideas to market. |
| Chicago Booth Magazine recently caught up with four ventures from the Polsky Center that are reaching important new milestones across industries and stages of growth — from pre-seed to Series C. Reserv, a property-and-casualty insurance software company cofounded by Booth adjunct professor of entrepreneurship and Duality advisor CJ Przybyl, MBA ’11, recently raised $125M in a Series C round; NVC ’25 alum K1 Semiconductor is commercializing a wafer-splitting technology developed by a UChicago team; George Shultz Innovation Fund recipient and current tenant of the UChicago Science Incubator staC12 is using thin-film single-crystal diamond to enable new semiconductor and quantum applications; and NVC ’21 alum Daybird is bringing functional makeup and skin care products to more than 500 stores nationwide. Read more now. |
| 4 // UChicago quantum researcher wins the 2026 Science Breakthrough of the Year. |
| David Awschalom, the UChicago Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, has been named the winner of Falling Walls’ Science Breakthrough of the Year in Physical Sciences for his work developing quantum technologies using molecules and proteins. His research aims to create and control atomic-scale qubits through a “bottom-up” approach using chemical and biological systems, potentially enabling new applications in quantum computing, sensing, and communication. Awschalom was selected from nearly 200 submissions in the Physical Sciences category and will present his work at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin in November. Read more now. And more from Awschalom about his research. |
| 5 // Duality alum recognized for his early-career excellence. |
| Cofounder and CTO of quantum technology company Infleqtion, Pranav Gokhale, PhD ’20, has just been recognized for his outstanding contributions to quantum computing research, software, and the development of practical quantum systems — going “above and beyond” all expectations for this stage of his career. Named as the newest recipient of the IEEE Quantum Technical Community Distinguished Early Career Award, Gokhale has built his career around connecting the different layers of quantum computing — from hardware and control to software, compilation, and algorithms. He previously cofounded and led Duality startup Super.tech, a quantum software company acquired by Infleqtion in 2022, and now leads Infleqtion’s technology strategy across its quantum computing platform, software, and applications. Read more now. |
| 6 // Turning risk into action. |
| As any physician knows well, all the greatest advancements and innovations in medicine are only worth as much as the patient is able or willing to comply with the recommended protocols. To guarantee the best chance at patient success, NVC ‘13 alum CancerIQ has announced a new partnership with Eon, providing health systems two entry points into the same standard: no patient at risk goes unidentified, and no recommended follow-up goes uncompleted. CancerIQ identifies patients who qualify for early cancer screenings and diagnostic tests based on genetic, lifestyle, and family-history risk factors, while Eon tracks actionable and incidental findings from radiology reports and helps care teams manage patients through follow-up. Together, the companies aim to close gaps at both ends of the early-detection process. To date, CancerIQ has helped drive a 4.2x increase in supplemental screening among health system clients, while Eon reports follow-up completion rates of more than 90%. Read more now on this new dynamic duo. |
| 7 // Classifying cancer metastasis with over 90% accuracy for better, more personalized treatment options. |
| Cofounded by UChicago professor Dr. Sean Pitroda, George Shultz Innovation Fund recipient PersonaDx is a precision diagnostic oncology company working to transform how metastatic cancers are classified and treated. Its lead assay, PersonaCRC, analyzes the RNA expression of 150 genes in colorectal liver metastases and combines the resulting tumor classification with clinical factors to sort patients by risk. In clinical cohorts, five-year survival was approximately 80% for the lowest-risk group and 40% for the highest-risk group. Now, PersonaDx is expanding its approach to additional metastatic cancers and developing AI-enabled digital pathology to make its biological insights available from routine tissue slides. Read more now. |
| 8 // Why the best salesperson in a room might be the one doing the least “selling.” |
| Sales has a bad reputation: pushy pitches, relentless follow-ups, and the feeling that someone is trying to talk you into something you don’t want or need. But Michael Alter, the Rattan L. Khosa Clinical Professorship of Entrepreneurship at Chicago Booth, sees it differently. Good selling, he argues, begins with curiosity — asking better questions, listening closely, and understanding someone’s actual problem before trying to offer a solution. And the skills extend far beyond sales: entrepreneurs use them to win customers, investors, and employees, while employees in established companies use them to champion new ideas and projects. In a new Chicago Booth Review podcast, Alter makes the case that sales skills are really life skills. Read more now. |
| 9 // This SBGP alum just added AI to the menu. |
| For Chicago’s small business owners, AI is less about building autonomous AI agents and more about getting through the day. The owner of West Loop restaurant Saigon Sisters, Mary Nguyen Aregoni, started experimenting with Gemini earlier this year — and quickly found plenty of ways to put it to work. The Polsky Small Business Growth Program alum now uses AI to draft email campaigns, respond to reviews, take meeting notes, review legal documents, and even answer questions like whether 100 catering trays will fit in her car. And she’s not alone. Chicago small business owners are increasingly turning to AI to handle routine tasks like marketing, paperwork, customer service, inventory, and data analysis. For businesses without the time or resources to build sophisticated AI systems, the technology is proving useful in a much simpler way. Read more now. |
| 10 // The true art of good business. |
| An alum of both the Small Business Financial Fundamentals Program and the Small Business Growth Program, Shari Currie launched her local Chicago business Recycled Modern to insert more art and culture into the daily lives of the people in her community while helping bridge the gap between emerging and established artists. What had previously begun as a destination for vintage and modern furniture has since evolved into a platform for makers, artisans, and storytellers — each reinterpreting materials, traditions, and ideas for today. Most recently, WGN TV featured Currie and Recycled Modern’s work partnering with local artists to host events and product launches. The Chicago shop’s merchandise runs the gamut of home goods, wall art, and one-of-a-kind fashion items, providing a carefully curated eye to help its customers sift through the art and vintage landscape. Learn more now. |
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