PCI Ventures supports a wide-ranging portfolio of early-stage companies through their UPstart and UPadvisors programs. The ever-expanding portfolio includes companies in life sciences, medical devices, healthcare management, advanced materials, information technology, and robotics. PCIV actively seeks entrepreneurs to lead its companies and investors to provide funding for the new ventures in development.
Advac Therapeutics
Advac Therapeutics
Development of vaccines and therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancers
Penn Founder(s): Hao Shen (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures, UPadvisor program
Aero2Max
Aero2Max
A revolutionary smart training system for high-performance athletes
Penn Founder(s): Ben Kozyak & Hansell Stedman (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures, UPadvisor, Penn I-Corps graduate
AgingSense
AgingSense
Wearing physiological sensors to monitor for exacerbations of heart failure
Penn Founder(s): Pamela Cacchione (Penn Nursing)
PCI Ventures UPstart
AltruMed
AltruMed
Develops self-driven wearable medical drug delivery devices to combat substance use disorders
Penn Founder(s): Jacob Brenner (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
Axonova Medical
Axonova Medical
Tech platform allowing the stretch growth of axon bundles for use as fully functional grafts to address peripheral and CNS neuropathies.
Penn Founder (s): D. Kacy Cullen and Douglas Smith (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Calorint
Calorint
Heat-based technology for wound healing
Penn Founder(s): Jonathan Isserow & Laura Isserow
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Carisma Therapeutics
$Carisma Therapeutics
Cellular immunotherapy for solid tumors.
Penn Founder(s): Saar Gill and Michael Klichinksy (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Carousel Therapeutics
$Carousel Therapeutics
Carousel Therapeutics is developing a universal CAR-T targeting system for the treatment of relapse and refractory solid tumors.
Penn Founder(s): Mauro Castellarin (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Cartio
Cartio
Developing CAR regulatory T cells to treat atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases.
Penn Founder(s): Robert Schwab (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Cerespectus
Cerespectus
Catheters using real time anatomic video feedback and fluoroscopic assistance for precise gene therapy delivery and treatment of other disorders of the central nervous system
Penn Founder(s): Bryan Pukenas (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Chip Diagnostics
$Chip Diagnostics
Lab-on-a-chip platform addressing the need for rapid, inexpensive, and highly sensitive diagnostics
Penn Founder(s): Dave Issadore (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Cogwear
$Cogwear
Affordable, mobile, comfortable, sustained, research-grade, brain state monitoring on the go
Penn Founder(s): Michael Platt (Penn Arts & Sciences)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Daimroc Imaging
Daimroc Imaging
Using Argentavue, a silver nanoparticle contrast agent for breast cancer imaging
Penn Founder(s): David Cormode (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Elaeis Therapeutics
Elaeis Therapeutics
Targeting protein palmitoylation to confront unmet challenges in human disease.
Penn Founder(s): Eric Witze, George Burslem (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
EmboVent
EmboVent
Penn Founder(s): William Vernick (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
EnaChip
$EnaChip
Developing magnetic materials, processes, and device designs that enable integration of magnetic components with silicon semiconductor devices
Penn Founder(s): Mark Allen (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Enteropass
Enteropass
Developing novel enteric bypass solutions to change the paradigm of enterocutaneous fistula management
Penn Founder(s): Daniel Holena (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Evinacel
Evinacel
Developing a variety of technologies that enable improved gamma delta T-cell therapy, a novel DR5 CAR construct, and an exosome therapy platform
Penn Founder(s): George Xu (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
Exio Biosciences
$Exio Biosciences
Developing a diagnostic test to predict a patient’s responsiveness to cancer immunotherapy, with a focus on checkpoint inhibitor therapies.
Penn Founder(s): Wei Guo (Penn Arts & Sciences)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Exyn Technologies, Inc.
Exyn Technologies, Inc.
Collect impossible to reach data with breakthrough AI-powered industrial drones & robots.
Penn Founder(s): Vijay Kumar (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
FloBio
$FloBio
Analyzes dynamic blood flow as a diagnostic technique in trauma, ER, and clinical settings
Penn Founder(s): Scott Diamond (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
FluidiSpec
FluidiSpec
Developing novel microfluidic systems for proteomic analysis of samples ranging from small biopsies to single cells in size.
Penn Founder(s): Aaron Timperman (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
Fluorosurgical Biosciences
Fluorosurgical Biosciences
Developing precision-medicine tools to increase intraoperative cancer detection for improved tumor resection.
Penn Founder(s): Jim Delikatny and Sofya Osharovich (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
Forsagen
Forsagen
Penn Founder(s): Robert Mauck (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
GastroVationX
GastroVationX
Portable medical device to be used in endoscopy to make procedures economical and efficient
Penn Founder(s): Ricardo Morgenstern (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
Ghost Robotics
Ghost Robotics
Building customizable robotic machines highly adept at perceiving tactile sensations
Penn Founder(s): Gavin Kenneally (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Hydropore
Hydropore
Hydropore is a clean technology start-up developing hydrogen fuel pellets for drones.
Penn Founder(s): Eric Detsi and John Corsi (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Hysplex
$Hysplex
Developing small molecule PARP inhibitors for the treatment of cancer and neurological disorders.
Penn Founder(s): Ben Black (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Innervace
$Innervace
Implantable tissue engineered brain pathways for neurodegenerative disorders.
Penn Founder(s): D. Kacy Cullen (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Jericho Music Labs
Jericho Music Labs
A mobile platform for copyrighted music distribution
Penn Founder(s): Kushol Gupta (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
JT Me-Sh Diagnostics
JT Me-Sh Diagnostics
Developing a novel point-of-care device to evaluate an individual’s exposure to radiation.
Penn Founder(s): Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou, Shampa Chatterjee (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Leden
Leden
Developing a self-powered tissue healing dental implant system to treat and prevent peri-implant diseases
Founded by Geelsu Hwang (Penn Dentistry)
Participates in PCIV – UPadvisors
LignaMed
$LignaMed
Targeted therapeutics from flaxseed derivatives
Penn Founder(s): Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Limbsalv
Limbsalv
Advanced technology for limb salvage and reconstruction
Penn Founder(s): Scott Levin, Edward Cantu (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Linnaeus
$Linnaeus
Developing a G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) agonist with applicability across a range of cancers.
Penn Founder(s): Todd Ridky (Penn Medicine) and Chris Natale (Penn Arts & Sciences)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Liquid BioDx
Liquid BioDx
Diagnostic blood test for sensitive detection of circulating tumor cells.
Penn Founder(s): Jay Dorsey, Gary Kao (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
LuxFiat Therapeutics
LuxFiat Therapeutics
Developing gene therapies to treat genetic causes of blindness.
Founded by William Beltran and Gus Aguirre (Penn Veterinary)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Mechano Therapeutics
$Mechano Therapeutics
Therapeutic delivery platform using mechanically-activated microcapsule technology
Penn Founder(s): George Dodge, Robert Mauck (Penn Medicine); Daeyeon Lee, Bhavana Mohanraj (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
MobileOptx
MobileOptx
Applying portable electronic technology to advance the potential of endoscopic imagery
Penn Founder(s): Natasha Mirza & Jason Brant (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Neuralert
$Neuralert
Robust wearable monitors to rapidly identify critically important neurological events such as stroke
Penn Founder(s): Steven Messe (Penn Medicine), James Weimer (formerly Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Neurokappa Therapeutics
Neurokappa Therapeutics
Treatments for cerebral vascular spasm using salvia divinosum
Penn Founder(s): Renyu Liu (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Neurostorative
Neurostorative
Developing nerve fusion technology for immediate axonal reconnection and electrical restoration after injury.
Penn Founder(s): Justin Burrell and D. Kacy Cullen (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
NewBreathz
NewBreathz
Respiratory-based diagnostics for metabolic disorders.
Founded by Steve Solga (Penn Medicine)
Participates in PCIV – UPadvisors
Nia Therapeutics
$Nia Therapeutics
Developing responsive neurostimulation therapies for patients with dementia and other memory disorders.
Penn Founder(s): Mike Kahana (Penn Arts & Sciences)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Onocor
Onocor
Catheter based retrieval systems designed to recovered malposition cardiovascular devices
Penn Founder(s): Joseph Gorman, Robert Gorman, & Matthew Gillespie (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
OptCon
OptCon
Software and sensor technology to enhance productivity, increase efficiency and automate processes for the construction, mining and infrastructure industries
Penn Founder(s): Ven Raju (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Osciflex
Osciflex
Developing medical devices for the prevention of thrombosis
Penn Founder(s): Mark Kahn (Penn Medicine) & John Welsh (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Osetomics
Osetomics
Diagnostic and prognostic tools for the treatment of acute musculoskeletal injuries, chronic orthopedic pathologies, and bone implant complications
Penn Founder(s): Annamarie Horan, Samir Mehta (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Osteome Synthetica
Osteome Synthetica
Developing personalized synthetic bone substitutes that are precision printed.
Penn Founder(s): Shampa Chatterjee (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Ostiio
$Ostiio
A novel approach to correct skeletal deformities and deficiencies using a fully implantable, magnetically-driven, bony distraction device
Penn Founder(s): Ari Wes & Jesse Taylor (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Paladai
Paladai
Developing a dental device that helps babies with cleft palate feed.
Penn Founder(s): Eugene Ko (Penn Dental Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Paradigm Analytics
Paradigm Analytics
Developing clinically-informed decision-based software to help with identification, stratification, and prioritization of patients for certain types of surgical procedures.
Penn Founder(s): John Fischer (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Paradigm Surgical
$Paradigm Surgical
Prophylactic mesh augmentation systems for fascial reinforcement
Penn Founder(s): John Fischer (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Peroxitech
Peroxitech
Novel therapeutic to prevent acute lung injury, the major cause of death with sepsis.
Penn Founder(s): Aron Fisher & Sheldon Feinstein (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Pinpoint Therapeutics
$Pinpoint Therapeutics
Developing novel autophagy inhibitor molecules for cancer treatment.
Penn Founder(s): Jeffrey Winkler & Ravi Amaravadi (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
PolyAurum
PolyAurum
Biodegradable gold nanoparticles to diagnose and treat diseases via enhanced x-ray attenuation
Penn Founder(s): David Cormode, Jay Dorsey (Penn Medicine); Andrew Tsourkas (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Prohibix LLC
Prohibix LLC
Developing injectable therapeutics that stop the progression of tissue degenerative diseases and preserve quality of life
Penn Founder(s): Jason Burdick (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
Prolifagen
Prolifagen
Developing microRNA therapies to treat myocardial infarction, prevent remodeling, and regenerate tissue
Penn Founder(s): Edward Morrisey (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Quantaras
$Quantaras
Advanced body-wide analysis of medical imagery for clinical and research purposes
Penn Founder(s): Jayaram Udupa, Drew Torigian (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Radix Therapeutics
Radix Therapeutics
Developer of targeting drugs to treat cancer.
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
Rafias
Rafias
Penn Founder(s): Elizabeth Heller (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisors
Recupero Robotics
Recupero Robotics
Robotics for improved physical therapy
Penn Founder(s): Michelle Johnson (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Ribovate Therapeutics
Ribovate Therapeutics
Ribovate is developing the next generation targeted mRNA-lipid nanoparticle therapeutic platform.
Penn Founder(s): Drew Weissman and Hamideh Parhiz (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
RightAir
RightAir
Wearable device for respiratory assistance in COPD patients
Penn Founder(s): Jake Brenner (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
Sapience Leadership
Sapience Leadership
Consulting services on curricula, operational issues, and strategic planning
Penn Founder(s): Michael Johanek (Penn Graduate School of Education)
PCI Ventures UPstart
SchoolSims
SchoolSims
Technology-enhanced immersive learning solutions to leadership development for educational and other organizations
Penn Founder(s): Michael Johanek (Penn Graduate School of Education)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Stage One Immunotherapeutics
Stage One Immunotherapeutics
Developing small molecules that target retinoic acid signaling pathways to treat solid tumors.
Penn Founder(s): Malay Haldar (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
TAIRIS
$TAIRIS
Improving neurosurgery and neurosurgeons through anatomical pattern recognition assistance
Penn Founder(s): Vivek Buch, Peter Madsen, Tejvir S. Khurana (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPadvisor
TheraVal
TheraVal
Penn Founder(s): Tobias Raabe (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)
Vasowatch
$Vasowatch
Decision support technology for obstetrics to improve outcomes for all mothers
Penn Founder(s): Stefanie Modri (Penn Nursing)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Vellum Biosciences
Vellum Biosciences
Non-invasive imaging diagnostic to differentiate cancer, inflammation, and infection
Penn Founder(s): Mark Sellmyer & Robert Mach (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures, UPadvisor
Veltion Therapeutics
Veltion Therapeutics
Novel approaches for cancer treatment by targeting the Integrated Stress Response and its role in tumor as well as stroma adaptation to stress
Penn Founder(s): Costas Koumenis (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures, UPadvisor
Ventru
Ventru
Aims to improve the safety and efficacy of neurosurgical procedures through surgical instrument innovation
Penn Founder(s): Rachel Blue and Michael Spadola (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Verix Health
Verix Health
Developing a portfolio of steerable devices designed to provide minimally invasive delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic tools.
Versatilis Therapeutics
Versatilis Therapeutics
Penn Founder(s): Daniel Powell (Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures UPstart
Vetigenics
Vetigenics
Using novel phage-display techniques to develop reagents and therapeutics for veterinary medicine
Penn Founder(s): Nicola Mason (Penn Vet)
PCI Ventures, UPstart
Vital Start Health
Vital Start Health
Empowering clinicians and caregivers by giving them a digital platform to improve neonatal care
Penn Founder(s): Carrie Hufnal (formerly Penn Medicine)
PCI Ventures, UPadvisor
VitalCore Software
VitalCore Software
Platform to monitor medical device performance in a hospital setting
Penn Founder(s): Insup Lee (Penn Engineering)
PCI Ventures, UPstart