Elevate Purdue Foundry Awards Funding to Startups
Hydro Grow LLC
The Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund is awarding $160,000 to eight Purdue-affiliated startups. The entrepreneurs will each receive $20,000 for commercialization activities, such as market research product development and prototype creation.
The funding is awarded to startups who reach "Black Award" status. In order to attain the status, a startup must be a Purdue Foundry client, founded by Purdue students, faculty or staff, and/or based on intellectual property that has been patented through the Purdue Research Foundation. Additional factors are taken into consideration, including market potential, operational viability, return potential and the startup’s leadership team.
"We again had an outstanding and competitive round of applicants for this round of funding," said John Hanak, managing director of Purdue Ventures. "We are in the midst of the third year of this program and are proud to say we have consistently seen quality and strong companies apply. We look forward to once again witnessing the early success of the companies in which we are investing."
The "Black Award" status qualifies startups to apply for a "Gold Award," which will provide up to $80,000 in funding. The new "Black Award" recipients include:
- Frontier Additive Manufacturing LLC, a software company developing an advanced process monitoring and full-closed loop control architecture for metal 3D printing.
- FroYo Xpress, a frozen yogurt company that offers a self-serve froyo experience to consumers with the convenience of a kiosk.
- Hydro Grow LLC, a startup developing a refrigerator-sized automated device to grow vegetables in a consumer’s home.
- MedNoxa LLC, a medical device company commercializing a novel, over-the-counter oxygen-based bandage for ulcer and wound healing.
- MR-Link LLC, a medical device company aiming to deliver novel technologies for physiological recording and stimulation during concurrent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- Novosteo Inc., a company developing a drug that selectively accelerates bone fracture healing by targeting bone anabolic agents to bone fractures and drug limiting accumulation at the site of the injury.
- Spotlight Cybersecurity LLC, a cybersecurity startup developing technology to enable chief security officers or chief information officers to remotely track and control email attachments.
- ZeaVaxx LLC, a vaccine company developing a new influenza vaccine for pigs with a novel nanosized biodegradable vaccine delivery system.
Purdue says, to date, the Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund has awarded $1.78 million to 52 Purdue-affiliated startups since 2014.