PCI Ventures Portfolio

PCI Ventures supports the creation of spinouts from Penn through targeted programs and activities

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.

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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

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Carisma Therapeutics

Cellular immunotherapy for solid tumors.

Penn Founder(s): Saar Gill and Michael Klichinksy (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures UPstart

Carousel Therapeutics

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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