Dev Gavaskar joins the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as senior director of Venture Development, where he leads efforts to accelerate the commercialization of breakthrough technologies emerging from the University of Chicago’s research ecosystem. His focus spans the physical sciences and quantum portfolio, with a particular emphasis on sustainability, cleantech, and decarbonization.

Dev brings over two decades of experience in technology commercialization, venture capital, and business development. Most recently, he served as vice president of Business Development at Synata Bio, where he led commercial strategy and secured high-value licensing and revenue-generating deals in the clean technology space. His work at Synata also deepened his expertise in global market dynamics, especially in crafting growth and licensing strategies tailored to diverse international markets.

Prior to Synata, Dev was a partner at True North Venture Partners, an impact-focused venture fund investing in deeptech. There, he played a pivotal role in sourcing and evaluating early-stage investments in energy, water, and industrial innovation. Internationally recognized for his expertise in techno-economic evaluations, Dev has helped shape investment strategies and commercialization pathways for both emerging and scaled technologies across multiple sectors.