In fiscal year 2025, Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center launched 16 startups with faculty and staff across diverse disciplines, dedicated to the further development of Vanderbilt-invented technology assets, and setting a new benchmark for campus faculty entrepreneurship.
The Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization (CTTC) played a key role in this milestone. Its New Venture Development team guides Vanderbilt innovators from research discovery to company launch, providing proof-of-concept validation and viability testing, along with business plan and go-to-market strategy guidance. These efforts are closely coordinated with the Licensing team, who leads the license negotiations with the newly formed startup while managing Vanderbilt’s protection of the intellectual property earmarked for these startups.
Further, the new ventures team assists in recruiting full-time operators or co-founders to professionally manage the company, advises on cap tables, and supports board governance. Post-startup launch, the team helps prepares the founders for raising capital, including connecting them directly with the best fit venture capitalists that are members of the Vanderbilt Venture Partners program.
“Successful startup assistance is a true team effort and takes a great deal of collaboration between members of CTTC’s licensing and new ventures teams,” points out Alan Bentley, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Development. “Each team plays an important role in supporting faculty efforts and providing the early support and coaching necessary to efficiently and effectively prepare, launch, and grow new ventures, and to position them for success.”
The startups include:
A command-line or web-based software tool that provides a user-friendly interface to run any existing computational science or learning code in the cloud. | David Hyde, assistant professor of computer science; Ravindra Duddu, professor of civil and environmental engineering |
Focused on advancing potential new therapies and treatments for chronic neurological disorders. | David Charles, professor and vice-chair of neurology; Mallory Hacker, assistant professor of neurology |
Developing a technology that enables industries to reduce production costs while transforming their chemicals, ingredients, and inputs into bio alternatives with negative CO2 emissions. | Carl Johnson, professor of biological sciences, molecular physiology and biophysics |
Focused on scaling-up and manufacturing bipolar membranes with transformative performance and durability. | Peter Pintauro, research professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering |
A software that leverages AI to streamline the process of extracting data from electronic medical records (EMRs) into structured fields. | Daniel Fabbri, associate professor of biomedical informatics |
A therapeutics discovery company focused on drug development through robotics and evolution. | Matthew Bacchetta, professor of cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, and biomedical engineering |
Providing a state-of-the-art non-deep learning synthetic data generation technique that addresses the challenge of accessing high-quality training data for AI and machine learning models. | Ashish Patel, assistant professor of clinical radiology and radiological sciences; Aditya Nanda, VU postdoctoral scholar |
A clinical photography tool that standardizes patient imaging. | Michael Golinko, associate professor of plastic surgery, otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, and neurosurgery |
iPrivacy Lab Co.: A novel ransomware defense mechanism for deployment in Windows systems, that leveraging alternate data streams misleads ransomware into attacking only file shells instead of content. | Dan Lin, professor of computer science |
Developing a first-in-class small molecule specifically targeting the genetic form of Parkinson's disease, offering a potential disease-modifying therapy. | Craig Lindsley, professor of pharmacology, biochemistry and chemistry |
A novel electrochemical system that can selectively extract lithium ions from complex brine chemistries, unlocking production of environmentally friendly lithium from domestic resource classes. | Shihong Lin, professor of civil and environmental engineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering; Daniel Rau, VU’24, chemical engineering |
An advanced virtual reality driving simulator specifically designed for teens and adults on the autism spectrum. | Keivan Stassun, professor of physics & astronomy; Nilanjan Sarkar, professor of engineering |
SJC Bio: Developing the world’s first rapid-setting, load-bearing dental bone graft cement that reduces time from implant surgery to permanent crown placement from months to minutes. | Scott Guelcher, professor of chemical, biomolecular, and biomedical engineering |
Sonic Therapeutics: Commercializing novel pharmaceutical agents for treating neuropsychiatric diseases. | Craig Lindsley, professor of pharmacology, biochemistry and chemistry |
Telescope Healthcare: Developing a machine learning tool to help care providers address the problem of hospital readmission. | Leon Scott, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery; Sahar Takkouche, Vanderbilt associate chief medical officer for Wilson and Sumner counties |
VigilAI: Focuses on developing a system to monitor healthcare algorithms, specifically targeting the elimination of racial bias in healthcare delivery. | Peter Embi, professor of biomedical informatics |
Powered by Innovation Catalyst Fund
Multiple research programs being commercialized through Vanderbilt-affiliated startups, such as Brim Analytics, Neurodiverse Technologies, Telescope Healthcare, and Image Assist, have received translational research support through Vanderbilt’s Innovation Catalyst Fund (ICF). This translational research fund enables faculty researchers to advance innovative technologies with significant potential by providing strategic funding for proof-of-concept projects, experiments that generate key data, and optimization of methodologies.
On-campus Collaboration
Vanderbilt's leadership plays a crucial role in promoting innovation, creating a strong foundation for ongoing entrepreneurial success. Key partners such as the Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation, the Wond’ry, and Owen Graduate School of Management's Center for Entrepreneurship (C4E) provide essential resources and training, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.
The record number of startups launched this past fiscal year highlights the faculty’s dedication to innovation and paves the way for future growth. With ongoing support from university leaders and campus partners, Vanderbilt’s outstanding researchers and inventors position Vanderbilt as a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship.