Last week, Penn’s Office of the Chief Innovation Officer announced the inaugural batch of companies receiving a $250,000 investment from its new startup fund.
The $10 million StartUP Fund launched earlier this year as part of the University’s mission to help Penn faculty members launch their inventions into the commercial space. The three startups receiving the investment — Peptaris, OneFiltr, and Vasowatch — span fields from maternal health to wireless telecommunications and artificial intelligence drug-discovery platforms.
Chief Innovation Officer John Swartley highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of the inaugural projects, saying that the goal was “to make sure that the startup fund is relevant to the entire Penn community.”
He also described the initiative as an “impact fund” — rather than a traditional for-profit venture capital fund that aims to “reap immediate financial benefits.”
Selected companies enter a “simple agreement for equity” with the University, allowing them to receive funding for early-stage development without undertaking the burden of cash repayments.
Peptaris, a biotech startup that uses AI models to discover peptides for human drug development, was co-founded by Presidential Associate Professor César de la Fuente.
He expressed that the fund is a way to “translate” the company’s initial research at Penn while expanding the biotech industry in the Philadelphia area.
Stefanie Modri, clinical instructor at the School of Nursing, co-founded Vasowatch — which “created the first software to predict a woman’s risk for postpartum hemorrhage.”
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After noticing a spike in postpartum hemorrhages in her career as a labor and delivery nurse, Modri teamed up with Jim Weimer, a former professor at the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Together, they developed biometric data software that could be integrated into existing wearable watches — taking maternal heart rate data and analyzing the risk of hemorrhage.
According to Modri, the team plans to use the funding to jumpstart a clinical trial for its software. The group has been working with the Penn Center of Innovation since the beginning of their founding in 2021 amid changes to federal funding.
“They’ve been instrumental in supporting us through the early stages,” Christine Rohan, CEO of Vasowatch, said. “Them stepping in, seeing the need, and filling the gap — I think that’s very prescient.”
In addition to providing financial support, Rohan added that the StartUp Fund will give them “legitimacy” as they find other investors.
OneFiltr is a startup that designs adjustable radiofrequency filters to allow wireless devices to be adaptable for future upgrades. The company was founded by electrical and systems engineering professors Troy Olsson, Firooz Aflatouni, and Mark Allen, and Ph.D. student Xingyu Du.
According to Olsson, the investment will allow the company to begin sampling with customers.
This announcement comes as the University launched the NextUP program in June, which provides funds for pre-commercial projects to begin seeking investors and partners.
“We’re big believers in companies starting here and staying here,” Swartley said, adding that the fund “supports good ideas, good opportunities across the entirety of Penn.”
