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It has been an exciting and productive summer at The Q, marked by significant milestones, continued momentum across our startup community, and a special visit from Northwestern President Mung Chiang.
Just three years after opening our doors, we welcomed our 25th resident startup. This summer, we launched new programs designed to strengthen Northwestern’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing students and researchers with hands-on opportunities to explore commercialization and company building, while creating meaningful connections between aspiring entrepreneurs and promising Northwestern technologies. Across our startup community, companies continued to make remarkable progress as well, achieving key funding and regulatory milestones, completing strategic acquisitions, and establishing new partnerships.
As we begin the academic year, we look forward to building on this momentum and bringing together Northwestern innovators, entrepreneurs, students, and partners to advance breakthrough discoveries and accelerate their path to real-world impact.
| | THE Q REACHES 25 RESIDENT COMPANIES | |
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The Q's resident community continues to grow, reflecting the expanding pipeline of Northwestern startups moving from research toward company building. This summer, the community welcomed its 25th resident company.
Our newest resident companies, Atrellx (former Prof. Teresa Woodruff, FSM) and Amino Cosmetic Peptides (Prof. Samuel Stupp, McC), join a growing community of science-driven ventures spanning biotechnology, AI, advanced materials, energy, healthcare, and other high-impact fields.
| | | | Welcome Our Newest Q Entrepreneurial Fellows | | |
We are excited to welcome Mandy Pinheiro, PhD, Yannick Schreiber, PhD and Yongkwon Song, PhD, as members of our newest Q Entrepreneurial Fellows, commercializing Northwestern innovations in women’s health, therapeutic platforms and batteries, respectively.
The Q Entrepreneurial Fellowship provides early-career scientists dedicated time, resources, and support to advance promising Northwestern technologies while building the companies needed to bring them to market. We look forward to supporting Mandy, Yannick, and Yongkwon as they work alongside Northwestern faculty, Profs. Serdar Bulun (FSM), Joshua Leonard (McC), and Mark Hersam (McC) to move breakthrough research toward commercialization.
If you are (or someone you know is) interested in becoming an Entrepreneurial Fellow, we have an exciting quantum opportunity with Prof. Prem Kumar's (McC).
READ MORE
| | Northwestern Innovates: From Discovery to Impact | | |
This summer, INVO launched Northwestern Innovates, a new website highlighting the people, discoveries, and commercialization journeys behind Northwestern technologies making an impact beyond the lab.
The site shares the stories behind innovations spanning therapeutics, medical devices, advanced materials, sustainability, and other fields—illustrating the many paths Northwestern discoveries can take from academic research to real-world application.
EXPLORE NORTHWESTERN INNOVATES
| | N.XT Fund Fuels Next Generation of Northwestern Startups | | |
Northwestern's N.XT Fund is a gap fund designed to support new startups commercializing Northwestern innovations. To date, including this year’s awardees, the N.XT Fund has awarded $2.8M to 19 startups. This year, the N.XT Fund has selected three new portfolio companies: Amino Cosmetic Peptides, AtomoAI, and GoEco.
Amino Cosmetic Peptides (Prof. Samuel Stupp, McC), led by Entrepreneurial Fellow Doruk Cezan, is advancing innovations in regenerative skincare. AtomoAI (Dr. Mohammed Abazeed, FSM) is developing new AI-enabled tools in radiation oncology, and GoEco (Prof. SonBinh Nguyen, WCAS) is developing PFAS-free sustainable packaging based on graphene oxide. Each will receive funding to reach critical commercialization milestones and strengthen its ability to attract future investment.
The Q received 17 applications. Eight were selected as semi-finalists receiving professional pitch deck support and mentoring from experienced industry leaders before presenting their companies to an external investment committee. The three newest awardees join a growing portfolio of Northwestern ventures that have leveraged N.XT support to advance technologies, secure follow-on funding, and build successful companies.
READ MORE
| | Q Summer Scholars Gain Hands-On Experience in Deep Tech | | |
This summer, eight Northwestern undergraduates gained first-hand exposure to deep-tech entrepreneurship through the Q Summer Scholars Program, an eight-week paid internship that places students within Northwestern startups. Now in its fourth year, the program immerses undergraduate interns in the day-to-day realities of commercialization.
Working alongside founders and scientists, the Summer Scholars contributed to projects spanning biotechnology, AI, advanced materials, sustainability, and medical technologies. This year's Scholars worked with ARMA Biosciences, GoEco, HIDENN-AI, Mesh Suture, NylaNova, Opera Bioscience, Rhaeos, and Syenex.
The program culminated in a Demo Day at The Q, where each Scholar shared what they accomplished and reflected on key lessons learned.Through the experience, Scholars gained a firsthand understanding of what it takes to translate university research into products and companies with real-world impact.
READ MORE
| Q Launches the Q CoFoundry Fellowship | |
This summer, The Q launched the Q CoFoundry (QCF) Fellows Program, a pilot initiative designed to connect experienced Kellogg alumni with Northwestern faculty developing promising technologies approaching commercialization. The program provides an opportunity for experienced business professionals to evaluate their fit as potential entrepreneurial partners and future co-founders while helping advance high-potential university innovations.
The inaugural program generated strong interest, attracting more than 50 Kellogg students and alumni. Following a competitive application process, three fellows, all members of the Executive MBA program, were selected to participate:
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Erin Mathews, KSM '27 is supporting the commercialization of a novel battery separator technology developed in Prof. Mark Hersam’s lab (McC);
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Benjamin Thomas, KSM '27 is working with Prof. Jie Gu (McC) on an ultra-low-power neuro-AI chip platform; and
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Eleonora Chakraborty, KSM '27 is collaborating with Dr. Marc Slutzky (FSM) to commercialize a novel wearable neurorehabilitation technology.
Over the course of this five-month program, fellows will work closely with faculty inventors to evaluate market opportunities, develop commercialization strategies, and explore the formation of new ventures around Northwestern discoveries. By connecting breakthrough research with experience entrepreneurial talent, the QCF Fellows Program addresses a critical challenge in university commercialization: building the leadership teams needed to translate scientific innovation into real-world impact.
If you are interested in joining a future QCF cohort, please complete this form.
READ MORE
| The Q and TechNexus Launch Physical AI Collaborative | |
The Q and TechNexus Venture Collaborative are launching a new Physical AI (PhysAI) Collaborative through TechNexus’s ForgeX and The Q’s Simpson-Q Accelerators program. The initiative will bring together Northwestern expertise in robotics, materials science, manufacturing, mechanics, and computation with industry challenges, corporate partners, and venture-building expertise to develop opportunities that can advance toward pilots and new ventures.
The PhysAI Collaborative is a six-month Opportunity Sprint, bringing faculty and graduate students together with industry partners to identify and advance opportunities across physical AI, robotics, advanced materials and sensing, manufacturing, and industrial automation.
The Q is seeking a Director in Residence for Physical AI & Robotics to help shape these opportunities and guide their path from research toward commercialization.
READ MORE
| | Northwestern startups have gained significant financial and regulatory traction. Highlighted below are companies that have secured major grants, successfully raised capital, achieved key regulatory milestones, or been acquired. | | Northwestern spinout bloXroute, founded on research from Prof. Aleksandar Kuzmanovic (McC), was acquired by FalconX, a leading digital asset prime brokerage serving institutional investors. READ MORE | COUR Pharmaceuticals (Prof. Stephen Miller, FSM) raised $50 million in Series B financing to advance its antigen-specific immune tolerance platform and clinical programs targeting autoimmune diseases. READ MORE | | |
Lilac Solutions a Northwestern spinout developing next-generation lithium extraction technology, received a $100M award from the U.S. Department of Energy. READ MORE
| Numat (Prof. Omar Farha, WCAS) received a $23 million initial contract award from the U.S. Department of Defense to advance next-generation chemical protection technology based on its innovative materials platform. READ MORE | |
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Sibel Health (Prof. John Rogers, McC) received EU MDR Class IIb certification for its ANNE® One platform, marking an important regulatory milestone for its wireless patient monitoring technology. READ MORE
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ENCUE (Prof. Joseph Moskal, McC) received FDA Rare Pediatric Disease Designation for NQ-13, its investigational therapy for Rett syndrome. READ MORE
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Epicore Biosystems (Prof. John Rogers, McC) partnered with Gatorade to deploy its wearable hydration technology at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. READ MORE
| | This summer, The Q continued to bring together Northwestern researchers, founders, students, and industry experts through seminars and hands-on commercialization programs. | |
Highlights included:
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In The Translation Economy seminar, The Q's Senior Manager for Life Science Ventures, Elan Ness-Cohn, PhD, explored how academic discoveries move from university laboratories through company formation and ultimately toward new medicines;
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In the Contracting Basics seminar, attorneys Jay Reilly, JD and Sarah Nyaeme, JD provided founders with practical guidance for navigating agreements with co-founders, employees, contractors, partners, and investors;
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In the From Lab to Marketplace seminar, The Q's Director-in-Residence, Jennifer Chadwick, PhD, examined how researchers can assess startup readiness, market opportunity, intellectual property, teams, and commercialization pathways;
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In the Market-Fit Fundamentals workshops, Emily Baum, MBA helped early-career researchers test market assumptions through customer discovery, market validation, competitive analysis, and product-market fit;
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The MMM × Q Commercialization Workshop introduced approximately 40 incoming Kellogg MMM students to the Northwestern innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem through a sprint workshop that tasks teams of students to explore potential pathways to market for Northwestern technologies.
| | This fall, Steven Deitcher, MD, FSM ’86, FSM ’88 will lead a three-part seminar series examining the critical decisions early-stage founders face around equity allocation, ownership structures, and advisory board development. Drawing on his entrepreneurial and industry experience, the series will equip founders with practical frameworks for building strong foundations for growth. | | | | |
"The Elephant In The Room" – Allocation of Founder Shares
September 24 | 12:00-1:00 PM | In-Person @ The Q
Understand how to approach founder equity decisions thoughtfully, including how contributions, roles, commitment, and future involvement should inform ownership. REGISTER HERE
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"Slicing the Pie" – Navigating Cap Tables and Dilution
October 21 | 12:00-1:00 PM | In-Person @ The Q
Explore how founder equity, employee incentives, outside investment, and future financing can reshape startup ownership over time and how to evaluate the tradeoffs that come with dilution. REGISTER HERE
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“Boarding" – Considerations When Building an Advisory Board
November 18 | 12:00-1:00 PM | Virtual
Learn how to identify the right scientific or clinical advisors, structure productive relationships, and avoid common pitfalls around expectations, compensation, and engagement. REGISTER HERE
| | HUB International's Lori Moreno and Nick Napolitano will join The Q for a session designed to help startup founders understand the types of insurance coverage early-stage companies should consider and how their needs evolve as they grow. | | | | |
Insurance 101: Managing Risk Throughout the Life Sciences Lifecycle
November 4 | 12:00-1:00 PM | In-Person @ The Q
Learn how to navigate key insurance considerations for early-stage companies, including types of coverage, when they may be needed, and how to assess and manage risk as your company grows. REGISTER HERE
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COMING THIS FALL!
A Deep Tech Workshop Series with SOSV HAX + The Q
Stay tuned for a new four-part workshop series with speakers from SOSV HAX, a prominent startup development and hands-on venture capital program. SOSV HAX will offer practical, investor-informed perspectives on building and funding deep-tech ventures: from evaluating venture potential and finding your market to technology de-risking and fundraising. Interested? SIGN UP HERE
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Director in Residence - Physical AI & Robotics
Work with Northwestern faculty and TechNexus to identify and shape new venture opportunities in physical AI, robotics, advanced materials, and manufacturing, helping promising technologies advance from research towards commercialization.
Learn More
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Senior Venture
Associate
Help advance Northwestern technologies and startups through commercialization strategy, venture evaluation, and translational funding programs, including the N.XT Gap Fund, while working closely with faculty, founders, investors, and industry partners.
Learn More
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Entrepreneurial Fellow -Quantum Networking
Work alongside Prof. Prem Kumar to translate pioneering quantum networking research into a new venture, advancing the technology, engaging potential customers and partners, securing early funding, and helping launch the company.
Learn More
| | PIPELINE OF NORTHWESTERN STARTUPS ACTIVELY FUNDRAISING | |
Explore startups that are actively fundraising.
This dynamic tool highlights the teams advancing breakthrough science toward market-ready solutions.
VIEW OUR STARTUP LIST
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