Penn announced the launch of a $10 million fund to provide early investment in companies founded by University researchers.
The StartUP Fund — managed by the Office of the Chief Innovation Officer — seeks to provide up to $250,000 to eligible startup companies. Any profit generated will be reinvested into the fund to encourage a "virtuous cycle of support" and further University research, according to a December 2025 press release.
"Penn is distinguished by the integration of academic excellence and discovery with real-world problem-solving," Penn President Larry Jameson's statement read. "The StartUP Fund will provide direct support to advance promising technologies and ideas emerging from our outstanding faculty and researchers."
"The fund is intended to be the earliest stage capital for ideas that are coming out of the entire University," Chief Innovation Officer John Swartley said in an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian. "We want this to be a resource that is useful not just to biotechnology and pharmaceutical start-up ideas, but also AI, energy, and FinTech."
Investment applications will be accepted on a rolling basis by the OCINO. Application decisions will be advised by recommendations from the Fund Advisory Committee — a body of external investment professionals — which will help assess the "feasibility" of start-ups, OCINO Senior Executive Director Thomas Logan told the DP.
“We’ve got an extraordinary external advisory board for this, and that’s really important because we want to make investment decisions that are based on real diligence and criteria,” Logan added.
According to an OCINO webpage, startup companies that receive funding will also be required to follow guidelines established by the advisory committee. In an interview with the DP, Logan clarified that the guidelines are designed to help attract future investors.
"We want companies to acknowledge upfront that they’re going to accept feedback," Logan said. "It’s not intended to be disrespectful — we’re trying to bring value to their effort."
In a statement to the DP, Osage University Partners Managing Partner Manny Stockman — who sits on the advisory committee — emphasized his role in helping startups transition into successful businesses.
"I want to be the voice that helps these teams pause their tech development to think hard about all the other parts of building a startup," Stockman wrote to the DP.
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The StartUP Fund is the latest addition to Penn’s startup ecosystem. According to the OCINO announcement, the University supported the creation of more than 350 startups and over $7.5 billion in investment funding through the Penn Center for Innovation, Penn Medicine, the Wharton School, and Pennovation Works.
"A really good idea can be the basis of a business," Swartley told the DP. "You don’t necessarily need a research laboratory — it can be a great idea that you execute on well, and we want people to think about us as a resource for those kinds of opportunities."
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Senior reporter Aidan Shaughnessy contributes to data and enterprise reporting and can be reached at aidansh@sas.upenn.edu. At Penn, he studies philosophy, politics, and economics. Follow him on X @aidannsh.
