Launch of the Penn StartUP Fund – New Internal Support for Faculty-Founded Companies

The Office of the Vice Provost for Research is pleased to announce the launch of the Penn StartUP Fund, a new University-backed early-stage investment fund designed to support startup companies founded by faculty and researchers and based on innovation developed at Penn.

The Penn StartUP Fund is intended to support faculty entrepreneurs from across campus and a broad swath of disciplines. Managed by Penn’s Office of the Chief Investment Officer (OCINO) and backed by a $10 million University commitment, the fund provides seed-stage capital to help advance promising discoveries into viable companies.

A common challenge for faculty-founded startups is access to capital at the earliest stages of company formation. The StartUP Fund addresses this gap by providing early investment that complements Penn’s existing commercialization infrastructure through the Penn Center for Innovation. The fund is designed to be evergreen, with any returns reinvested to support future faculty-led ventures.

Eligible companies must be based on Penn technology, know-how, or ideas and include at least one Penn-affiliated faculty member or researcher as a founder. The StartUP Fund accepts applications on a rolling basis. Applications will be reviewed by a group of expert external advisors who will assess applications for funding potential according to several key investment considerations including overall feasibility, commercial potential and the likelihood that the StartUP investment will advance the maturity of the technology or idea and increase the value of the company.

Additional information about the StartUP Fund and the Office of the Chief Innovation Officer is available at https://ocino.upenn.edu. Faculty can apply via the online application.

If you have questions or would like to discuss whether your idea or startup may be a good fit for the StartUP Fund, please contact the Office of the Chief Innovation Officer at ocino@upenn.edu.