Purdue Foundry Names ‘Black Award’ Funding Winners

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The Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund has awarded a total of $160,000 to eight Purdue-affiliated startups. The university says the funding gives each startup Black Award status, which makes them eligible for further investment once they hit certain predetermined milestones.

In order to reach Black Award status, which provides up to $20,000 in funding, startups must meet several criteria, including being Purdue Foundry clients, holding intellectual property patented through the Purdue Research Foundation. and/or companies owned by Purdue students, faculty or staff. The university also lists other considerations, which can include market potential, operational viability and leadership.

"As we enter the fourth year of the Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund, we are able to see how the recipient companies have performed over time. It is clear that these companies are well beyond normal growth and advancement of most companies in the early years of a startup’s life," said John Hanak, managing director of Purdue Ventures. "Like past awardees of the fund, each of the early-stage startups in this round has demonstrated strong potential for high-growth within the Purdue entrepreneurial ecosystem."

The startups receiving the funding include:

• Advanced Renewable Power: Developing Mobile Power Grid (MPG), a battery management system integrating the electric grid with energy sources, such as solar or wind generators.
• Enhance Therapies: Developing technology that enriches surgical guided imaging with a targeted dye that binds to bladder cancer cells and allows surgeons to more fully see and remove the cancerous tissue.
• Explore Interactive: Has built an augmented reality application assisting students in hands-on learning of STEM education concepts.
• Kardiana: Provides a medical imaging analysis tool based on physics that quantifies clinical metrics and diagnoses with over 90 percent accuracy.
• Petal Solutions LLC: Constructs aero-engine monitoring systems measuring the pressure and flow directions in high-temperature environments and devices with client-specific software processing sensor output.
• Rofori Corp.: Developed hygienic software as a service (SaaS) that alerts business owners to their cybersecurity posture for their digital assets.
• Teichos Laboratories LLC: Developing an immunotherapy for bovine mastitis that uses synthetic versions of bacterial cell wall to direct immune response mechanism.
• VeoRide: Provides communities with a scalable bike share system that allows riders to return bikes at any designated bike parking area with an affordable pay-as-you-go price model.

The startups are now eligible to reach "Gold Award" status, which would provide up to $80,000 in funding. 

The Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund is a joined venture between Elevate Ventures and Purdue Foundry that launched in 2014. Since that time, 60 startups have received a total of nearly $2 million in investment funding.