Â鶹ӰԺ

During the coronavirus pandemic, Greg Potts, Idea Forge machine shop coordinator, joined many others in pursuing a new hobby: mask-making. He has made over 250 masks and plans to sew at least 100 more.

A collaborative group comprising CU Law's Silicon Flatirons Center, Startup Colorado, and the Telluride Foundation recently received an $85,000 grant to enable the development and execution of a three-day entrepreneurial policy academy.

New Iridium, a company developing commercialized photocatalysis technologies to accelerate drug development and manufacturing, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant for $256,000 to conduct research and development work on facilitating timely availability of Remdesivir, a potential life-saving drug in the global fight against COVID-19.

Launched this month by the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business, COventure Forward is designed to connect small businesses, start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs to a seasoned mentorship network.

COventure Forward is an online resource platform designed to support entrepreneurs and small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.

CU Engineering’s Kyle Judah, executive director of entrepreneurship, is among a small group of community members launched Feed The Frontlines Â鶹ӰԺ, an organization that supports local restaurants while providing fuel for the fight against COVID-19 to frontline health care workers.

CU Â鶹ӰԺ spinout SomaLogic Inc. is beginning a merger with a special purpose acquisition company CM Life Sciences II that would add up to $651 million in new funding to the company’s books, and make it Colorado’s latest unicorn. The deal values SomaLogic at $1.23 billion before going public, granting it unicorn status as a privately held company worth more than $1 billion.

In hopes of securing investments to advance their companies, 18 university ventures spun out of Colorado research institutions and federal laboratories pitched to local and out-of-state investors at the state's second annual Destination Startup showcase on Feb. 27.

A new program on campus, Impactful Women—hosted by the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative—brought together Tamar McKee, Jane Miller and Annie Ryu to discuss their professional and personal journeys as leaders in the natural food industry.

This year's event — hosted again by Venture Partners at CU Â鶹ӰԺ on Feb. 27 — will feature 18 startups from CU Â鶹ӰԺ, CU Anschutz, CU Denver, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines and NIST.