Purdue Fund Invests $750K in Startups

Bionode's technology originally required contacts

The Purdue Research Foundation’s Foundry Investment Fund is investing $750,000 in three life sciences startups. Purdue says the funding will be used as partial matches to investments made in the startups by other investors.

The FIF, which was established in 2014, co-invests with other investors to help startups based on life science technologies developed at Purdue. The fund is providing $250,000 each to Bionode LLC, Amplified Sciences LLC and CorMatrix Inc.

"This fund makes investments in companies that have secured external ‘smart money’ capital from the likes of venture funds and other institutional and professional investment sources," said John Hanak, managing director of Purdue Ventures. "In the future, we will continue to review emerging technologies with potential for outside and FIF investment."

Bionode, founded by Purdue biomedical engineering professor Pedro Irazoqui, has developed a wearable, bioelectronic device aimed at treating and preventing elevated intra-ocular pressure in glaucoma patients. Irazoqui appeared in Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick in February 2017 to talk about the technology, which you can view by clicking here.

Purdue says Amplified Sciences is developing an early detection technology for oncology and kidney diseases. The company was founded by Vincent Jo Davisson, a professor in Purdue’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.

CorMatrix is a medical device company aimed at developing solutions for cardiac tissue repair using extracellular matrices. The company was founded by Purdue researcher Robert Matheny.

The FIF has invested $4.2 million since its inception.