Destination Startup
A collaboration among leading research universities and federal laboratories across the Intermountain Westtoshowcasethe best companiesfrom ourinnovation ecosystem.
Destination Startup® brings groundbreaking startups built on novel discoveries from top national labs and universities together with investors from throughout North America to catalyze real-world impact. This showcase demonstrates a powerful way to invest in and get funding for innovative research and translate it into impactful business ventures.
Some results from Destination Startup2018-2024:
- $1.2 billion has been collectively raised (to date) by startups in venture, angel, strategic and grant funding.
- 900+ investors, business leaders and innovators from across the continent have attended.
- 97+ new companies have presented.
Startups come from these participating institutions
Arizona State University, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, Montana State University, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Texas Tech University System, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), University of Arizona, University of Colorado (Boulder, Anschutz, Denver and Colorado Springs), University of Denver, University of Kansas, University of Nebraska-UMC, University of New Mexico, University of Utah and University of Wyoming.
Investors: Attend the Investor Showcase
The Destination Startup Investor Showcase is an invite-only showcase of new companies actively raising funds to commercialize groundbreaking bio- and physical science inventions from leading research institutions across the Intermountain West. It demonstrates a powerful way to invest in advancing innovative research and translate it into impactful business ventures.
Registration for the 2025 showcase has closed. Interested in the 2026 showcase? Sign up for updates here
2025 Presenting Startups
*Presenter at Destination Startup
Avesta76 is a revolutionary biotech company that is developing cancer medications that can treat over half of all cancers safely and effectively. To do that, we have found the key to bypassing p53 mutations and deletions. We will begin first in-human clinical trials in early 2026.
Team:, Co-Founder, CEO; Sanjay Awasthi, M.D., Co-Founder, Chief Research Officer; , Co-Founder, COO
Affiliation: Texas Tech University System
Industry Applications: Health and Wellness, Biotech, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, Therapeutics
Cascade Bio empowers enzymes to change how molecules are made. Our product extends enzyme lifespans in chemical processes, lowering the cost of sustainable biomanufacturing. Over 20 companies have paid to try our product across pharmaceuticals, foods, recycling, specialty chemicals and biomining.
Team:, Co-Founder, CEO; (Alum: ϳԹ Chemical and Biological Engineering), Co-Founder, CSO
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Advanced Materials,Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning,Environment and Sustainability,Cleantech,Food and Agriculture,Biotech
Darwin Biosciences develops saliva-based diagnostics for early infection detection. Our technology identifies immune response signatures before symptoms escalate, enabling faster intervention. We aim to revolutionize infectious disease diagnostics, starting with sepsis.
Team: , CEO, Co-Founder; Sara Sawyer, Director, Co-Founder (ϳԹ BioFrontiers Institute)
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Medical Devices, Biotech, Research and Exploration, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
EerDx uses earbud sleep diagnostics to transform how we diagnose and treat the 100 million Americans with sleep disorders. By delivering advanced clinical-grade sensors in a consumer earbud factor that a patient can easily use at home, EerDx is making home sleep testing cool!
Teams:, CEO, Co-Founder; , CTO, Co-Founder
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Advanced Materials, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, Sensors, Health and Wellness, Medical Devices, Diagnostics
Flow Aluminum develops Aluminum-CO2 batteries for grid storage, microgrids and defense, offering extreme temperature performance (-40°C to 170°C), enhanced safety and CO2 utilization. Safer and cheaper than lithium-ion, our rechargeable system enables carbon removal and sustainable energy storage at scale.
Team: , Co-Founder, Chief Scientist; Co-Founder, CEO; , COO/CFO
Affiliation: University of New Mexico
Industry Applications: Aerospace, Advanced Materials, Civic Engagement and Government, Construction, Environment and Sustainability, Cleantech, Hardware and Instrumentation, Robotics, Sensors, Software, Manufacturing, Chemicals, Additive Manufacturing, Quantum, Research and Exploration, Social Enterprise, Smart Cities
Quantum computers are yet to reach the size and scale required to unlock their true potential in exponential processing power. Icarus Quantum develops efficient and scalable quantum interconnects, providing scalability to quantum computers through modularity.
Team:, CEO, Founder; , Photonics Engineer; , Device Engineer; , , Advisor; , Advisor
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Quantum
Illumen Therapeutics is pursuing a p53 moonshot to transform cancer treatment by pioneering the development of PARN inhibitor drugs that increase functional p53, known as the 'Guardian of the Genome,' to treat aggressive cancers and improve patient survival.
Team: , CEO, Co-Founder; Roy Parker (ϳԹ BioFrontiers Institute), Co-Founder, Advisor; , CFO; , Interim CSO
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Health and Wellness, Therapeutics, Biotech, Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
Latimer Controls provides a software solution that addresses the critical issue of solar power intermittency, enabling precise real-time control and optimization of solar output. This transforms standalone solar generation into a controllable, dispatchable and flexible resource for the power grid.
Team: (, Alum: ϳԹ Applied Mathematics) CEO, Co-Founder; (Alum: ϳԹ Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences), Co-Founder; (Alum: ϳԹ Chemical and Biological Engineering), Co-Founder.
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, Environment and Sustainability, Cleantech, Software, Smart Cities
Founded by experienced battery technologists and entrepreneurs, Mana Battery delivers on the promise of the sodium-ion battery with best-in-class cost and performance through a proprietary low-cost, fire-extinguishing electrolyte platform and a high-energy battery cell design that offers higher energy density than LFP Li-ion at half-the-cost.
Team: , Co-Founder, CEO; , Co-Founder, CTO; (ϳԹ Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering), Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Advisor; , Member of the Board of Directors; , Director of Materials Engineering and R&D; , Senior Cell Engineer; , Associate Cell Engineer; , Senior Business Advisor
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Advanced Materials, Cleantech, Manufacturing
OMC Thermochemistry offers a low-cost, massively scalable route for the efficient, highly durable production of hydrogen or the transformation of CO2 back into useful fuels and chemicals using heat, a novel active material, and globally abundant resources within existing industrial formats and competencies.
Team: (ϳԹ Chemical and Biological Engineering), Co-Founder, CSO; , Co-Founder, CEO; , Senior Process Engineer
Otoro Energy is revolutionizing long-duration energy storage with a high-efficiency, low-cost flow battery. Backed by the largest U.S. utility and over $6 million in DOE grants, our non-flammable, non-toxic technology enables safe, 10+ hour discharge, delivering reliable, scalable and cost-effective grid resilience.
Team: (frm. ϳԹ Chemistry, RASEI)
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Cleantech, Hardware and Instrumentation
PAGE Technologies is redefining agricultural and environmental monitoring with a breakthrough analytics platform. Our proprietary printed electronics deliver real-time, ultra-low-cost data collection. With seamless API integration, PAGE enables strategic partners to scale impact and unlock new revenue opportunities.
Team: (ϳԹ College of Engineering and Applied Science), Co-Founder, CEO; , Co-Founder, CTO; Cameron Handeland, Lead Systems Engineer
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Advanced Materials,Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, Environment and Sustainability,Cleantech, Food and Agriculture, Sensors
Paramium is an aerospace telecom company focused on building a global network of advanced ground stations for multiband satellite connectivity. Its centralized system simplifies scheduling, connection, downloading and mission control, much like scheduling an online conference.
Team:, CEO, Co-Founder; , CTO, Co-Founder; (), COO, , CFO
Affiliation: University of Arizona
Industry Applications: Aerospace
TheraCea Pharma is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing a new generation of radiopharmaceutical compounds as theranostics, molecules that have both diagnostic and therapeutic applications, and advanced diagnostics for detecting and treating cancers and neurological disorders.
Team: , CEO, Co-Founder; , Vice President of R&D; , Fractional CFO; , Chief Business Officer; , Regulatory Affairs Consultant; , Manager of R&D; , Manager of Business Operations; , Scientist II; , Business Intelligence Officer
Affiliation: University of Arizona
Industry Applications: Therapeutics, Diagnostics, Biotech
ղԳ’s platform technology enables real-time dynamic tinting through reversible metal electrodeposition (RME). It’s tunable by application, integrates into glass or plastic, has a wide dynamic range, neutral color, low cost and is flexible, unlocking new possibilities for smart materials.
Team: , CEO; , COO; , CTO; , Chief Scientist
Affiliation: ϳԹ
Industry Applications: Advanced Materials, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), Environment and Sustainability, Cleantech, Smart Cities
Startup Presenters: Eligibility, Details and Deadlines
Past Startup Presenters
Batteries Beyond Batteries Corp.—Developing a patented vehicle immobilizer to provide vehicles with improved and convenient protection against thefts, with the potential of replacing existing car keys or key fobs. Affiliation: University of Colorado Denver
BioSensor Solutions—Provides an organic sensor technology that measures and validates soil health critical for fresh food safety, agriculture production and climate sustainability. Affiliation: ϳԹ
Blue Cubed LLC—Developing optical communication systems for the rapidly growing small satellite market. Affiliation: ϳԹ
Colorado Earth LLC—Designs, manufactures and builds using locally-produced masonry blocks. Affiliation: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
D3Sciences Inc.—Empowering tissue-based diagnostics for personalized care. Affiliation: University of Arizona
Ezalife LLC—Develops simple, safe securement methods for a wide variety of surgically placed tubing to improve clinical outcomes and patient quality of life. Affiliation: University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Green Steel Environmental LLC—Improves water and air quality by making sustainable improvements to wastewater and biogas treatment. Affiliation: ϳԹ
Mach Electric—A Boulder R&D group developing sustainable aviation and materials technologies with a core product that aims to produce aerospace-grade carbon fiber through a process that directly sequesters carbon dioxide. Affiliation: ϳԹ
Metfora—Metfora’s novel AI-enabled diagnostic test overcomes the difficulty of detecting chronic diseases by discerning disease-specific changes in the levels of metabolites circulating in the blood, enabling doctors to find and begin treating these diseases in their early, more treatable stages. Affiliation: University of Arizona
Neurofluidic Diagnostics—Offers advanced data-mapping services for neurodegenerative biomarkers using proprietary neurofluidics, facilitating precise disease progression modeling and enhancing early diagnostics to support drug development efforts. Affiliation: Montana State University
New Day Hydrogen Inc.—Making hydrogen fueling economical for fleets of heavy-duty electric vehicles as they take their first, incremental steps towards zero emissions; with the proprietary HubStarter system, they show fleets transitioning as few as five trucks the path to beating diesel in applications where batteries just don’t fit. Affiliation: Colorado State University
NitroCat Energies—Developing modular and electrified systems powered by renewable electricity to convert nitrogen feedstock in the agricultural waste stream (run-off) to high-value and high-energy fuels and chemicals (ammonia, urea) without the high heat and pressure traditionally used in the industry. Affiliation: Colorado State University
Pando Strategies/Click!—A hands-free computer interface that allows users to interact with machines through a comfortable wearable device, analogous to using a finger to type on a keypad where the tongue substitutes for the finger and the teeth for the keypad. Affiliation: ϳԹ
Pearl Scientific—A translational breast cancer research program to translate novel therapies for patients with recurrent/refractory/metastatic disease with a focus on patients younger than 45. Affiliation: University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
PrecisionTerra—Improves GPS receivers’ signal tracking capabilities and positional accuracy in challenging environments such as dense cities, with a vision to improve high-definition map-based positioning and navigation systems for autonomous vehicles in such environments. Affiliation: ϳԹ
Reglagene Inc.—A therapeutics company that leverages its expertise in the design and development of brain penetrant medicines to create breakthrough therapies for the safe and effective treatment of brain diseases. Affiliation: University of Arizona
RockyTech—Develops compatibilizers that enhance the quality of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) waste blends for reuse in molding applications (3D printing, packaging, cosmetics). Affiliation: ϳԹ
Seedling Biosystems—Bioengineering soybeans for the sustainable production of essential chemistries for manufacturing, therapeutics and food. Affiliation: University of Col