UA Startup Codelucida Wins Arizona Innovation Challenge Award
The following is an adaptation of an original article written by Jill Goetz, UA College of Engineering.
University of Arizona startup Codelucida(link is external) has been selected as one of the Arizona Commerce Authority's spring 2017 Arizona Innovation Challenge winners.
Codelucida, which is commercializing error-correction technology for data storage and communications systems, was co-founded by UA professor of electrical and computer engineering and mathematics Bane Vasić with Shiva Planjery(link is external), who received his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the UA in 2013, and David Declercq(link is external), a professor at the University of Cergy-Pontoise in France.
Codelucida, along with Hydronalix, a company founded by UA College of Engineering graduate Tony Mulligan, were among six Arizona startups and early-stage companies to receive $250,000 in the spring 2017 round of the contest held by the Arizona Commerce Authority. Judges selected the winners from 150 applicants for technology potential, marketing strategy and quality of their management teams.
Vasić and his cofounders developed their patented technology, algorithms for ensuring that data is reliably stored without loss due to errors, in the labs of the UA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. They partnered with Tech Launch Arizona, the office of the UA that commercializes inventions stemming from University research, to protect the intellectual property and license it to the startup.
"Codelucida has a great team, and it is a pleasure to watch the process of translating theoretical discoveries made by my research group at the University of Arizona to a business that benefits our community," Vasić said. "Error correction is a core technology necessary in any communication and computing system, from wireless phones and optical links, data centers and computer memories to quantum computers. We hope that our potential to tap into these markets and our track record will attract new talented employees to move to and stay in Tucson."
Codelucida has received approximately $700,000 in angel funding and two Small Business Innovation Research grants totaling $900,000 from the National Science Foundation.
"Codelucida is the example of how a technology startup has had the best possible start by utilizing all the resources of our UA community," said Anita Bell, senior manager at the Arizona Center for Innovation, the incubator at the UA Tech Park that provided the company with mentoring services and space during its initial years of operation.