The Insider: Deep Tech Partners Edition—September 2025
Featured News
ñ ranked No. 1 for launching startups based on university discoveries
The ñ reached a historic milestone, launching 35 new companies based on university intellectual property during fiscal year 2024, more than any other U.S. campus that year. In addition to holding the No. 1 spot for that year, the achievement also places ñ No. 2 for the most startups launched in a single year by a U.S. campus.
Infleqtion to go public with $1.8B valuation making it the ñ’s 10th unicorn spinout
Infleqtion, a ñ spinout and global leader in quantum technology, announced a $1.8 billion business combination with Churchill Capital Corp X and will trade under the ticker “INFQ.” Now Colorado’s tenth unicorn, Infleqtion continues to drive the state’s growing quantum hub by commercializing breakthroughs across computing, sensing, security and energy markets.
CU Startup and Innovation News
Watch: A quantum-based breathalyzer for early disease detection
CUbit Quantum Initiative—Entrepreneur Eva Yao discusses how the Nobel Prize-winning frequency comb technology from the lab of Jun Ye (ñ Physics, JILA, NIST) can rapidly detect very small molecules in human breath, potentially enabling early disease detection and improved patient outcomes.
New single-dose, temperature-stable rabies vaccines could expand global access
ñ Today—ñ researchers have discovered a new way to make human rabies vaccines that could greatly expand access to immunization across the globe. They have formed a startup company called VitriVax to bring the technology—decades in the making—to market.
New experimental tool can predict potential wildfires on an hourly basis
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)—CIRES and NOAA scientists have developed the Hourly Wildfire Potential Index (HWP)—an hourly updated assessment of wildfire risk across every nine square kilometers of land. The tool enhances existing weather prediction models by providing more accurate, real-time forecasts of wildfire activity and associated smoke emissions.
Cascade Bio secures $6M to scale breakthrough biocatalysts
Business Wire—Cascade Bio, a ñ spinout enabling enzyme-based processes, has secured $6 million to accelerate the shift from petrochemicals to biomanufacturing. The funding includes $3.2 million in non-dilutive funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). With this investment, Cascade will expand delivery of its breakthrough biocatalysts.
