University at Buffalo Faculty Spinouts Secure Nearly $16 Million in 2025, Advancing Diagnostics, AI, and Therapeutics
核心洞察
Nine UB faculty-founded startups have collectively raised nearly $16 million since the start of 2025 from NIH, NSF, U.S. Army, CEPI, and NYSTAR.
Research-based spinouts span diverse areas including low-cost blood tests for brain aneurysms, surgical AI, smartphone hearing assessments, and more.
UB's Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships (BEP) provides commercialization support, technology transfer, incubator space, and early-stage funding to de-risk deep tech ventures.
Nine spinout companies built on research from the University at Buffalo (UB) have collectively secured nearly $16 million in new grants, private investment, and licensing revenue since the start of 2025, underscoring a growing pipeline of faculty-founded startups emerging from the university's research enterprise.
The funding has been awarded by a broad coalition of federal and state agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Army, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and New York State innovation programs such as Empire State Development's Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR).
The technologies under development span a wide clinical and scientific spectrum. Among the projects are low-cost blood tests for detecting unruptured brain aneurysms, surgical artificial intelligence systems trained on operating-room images, and smartphone-based hearing assessments designed for older adults at risk of cognitive decline (搜索). Additional ventures include catalysts that convert nitrogen oxides into ammonia and battery technologies engineered for defense applications.
The founders of these companies hold faculty appointments across multiple UB schools, including the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Commercialization Infrastructure Driving Growth
At the center of this translational activity is UB's Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships (BEP), the university's central commercialization team. BEP has made faculty-founded spinouts a strategic priority, developing programs and partnerships tailored to the unique demands of research-based "deep tech" companies.
"A lot of what's happening in UB labs is exactly the kind of foundational science that deep tech companies are built on," said Per Stromhaug, senior associate vice president for economic development at UB. "Our job is to make sure the faculty who want to build those companies have the right people and resources alongside them to position them to succeed."
The momentum reflects UB's broader research footprint. The university reports $571 million in annual research spending, making it the No. 1 public university in New York State for research activity — a scale that helps explain the increasing rate at which faculty discoveries are transitioning from laboratory research into startup companies.
De-Risking Early-Stage Technologies
BEP plays a critical role in de-risking early-stage technologies by managing UB's technology transfer operations to protect intellectual property and by helping researchers assess market need and commercial potential through programs such as NSF I-Corps. The team also helps faculty founders move promising work toward commercialization by pairing them with experienced business partners, routing new spinouts into BEP's incubators at Baird Research Park and the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS), and providing essential research and development funding.
BEP-supported funding opportunities include grants from the Buffalo Innovation Accelerator Fund (BIAF), CBLS, the Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences (UB CAT), and the Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics (CMI). In some cases, these programs supply proof-of-concept and validation funding that helps convert modest local support into substantially larger federal grants.
"A faculty founder begins with a critical finding in the form of the breakthrough science," said Olga Petrova, director of innovation initiatives at BEP. "What they need is someone alongside them who can help with everything the science does not teach you: finding customers, structuring the company, navigating fundraising. That commercialization expertise needs to be in place early, when the first decisions can shape the company for years."
Early Engagement with Faculty Entrepreneurs
In many instances, BEP's support begins well before a company is legally incorporated. Faculty entrepreneurs frequently work directly with Petrova or her colleagues on grant strategy, commercialization planning, or translational research. This early and deliberate engagement — at the stage when decisions about licensing, funding strategy, and team building can shape a spinout's trajectory for years — represents a marked shift from the university's approach in prior years.
Over the past two decades, more than 30 UB faculty-founded startups have collectively raised more than $213 million in grants, investment, and licensing revenue, reflecting a sustained and growing capacity to translate academic research into commercial ventures with real-world impact.