U of A launches Venture Catalyst Program to match experienced entrepreneurs nationwide with breakthrough technologies
Tech Launch Arizona initiative recruits founders to build venture-ready companies around university innovations, supported with mentorship, up to $50,000 in de-risking capital, and a pathway to seed investment
Professor Emeritus Dennis Lichtenberger demonstrates a device he and his team invented that uses a low-cost polymer catalyst to dramatically improve hydrogen production rates in electrolysis systems. This innovation is one of over thirty that are available for entrepreneurs to consider through the Venture Catalyst Program.
Paul Tumarkin/Tech Launch Arizona
TUCSON, AZ. – Great technologies don't become great companies on their own.
Every year, University of Arizona researchers develop innovations with the potential to improve healthcare, strengthen national security, advance computing, transform agriculture and solve any number of complex industrial challenges. Yet many promising inventions never reach the marketplace, not because the science falls short, but because experienced entrepreneurs never discover them.
To change that, Tech Launch Arizona, the commercialization unit of the U of A, has launched the Venture Catalyst Program, a startup formation initiative designed to recruit accomplished entrepreneurs and match them with curated university technologies ready for commercialization.
Unlike traditional accelerators that help founders refine existing startups, Venture Catalyst begins one step earlier. Participants are matched with promising university technologies that have already undergone commercial evaluation. They then work with a team of inventors, mentors and commercialization experts to validate markets, refine business models and launch venture-ready companies.
Selected participants also get the opportunity to compete for up to $50,000 in milestone-based project funding to reduce technical and commercial risk, as well as an opportunity to pitch for investment through Tech Launch Arizona's Wildcat Philanthropic Seed Fund.
"The University of Arizona produces extraordinary innovations. Our challenge isn't finding great technologies,” according to Doug Hockstad, the university’s chief innovation officer and executive director of TLA. “It's connecting those technologies with experienced entrepreneurs who know how to build companies. We created this program to make those connections and accelerate the number of university discoveries reaching the marketplace."
Bruce Burgess
Tech Launch Arizona
The program targets experienced business builders as well as first-time entrepreneurs. Bruce Burgess, TLA’s director of venture development, said that ideal applicants include serial entrepreneurs, startup executives, commercialization professionals, technical product leaders and industry experts interested in becoming venture founders.
"Most entrepreneurs spend months searching for the right opportunity to pursue,” Burgess said. “We've reversed the model. We start with exceptional technologies that have already been evaluated for commercial potential, then recruit talented founders who can move them into the marketplace."
"Arizona has no shortage of breakthrough technologies. Programs like Venture Catalyst help solve one of the hardest commercialization challenges: connecting world-class innovation with experienced entrepreneurs who know how to build companies. Launching more of those companies is what we need to strengthen Arizona's innovation economy."
TLA is now accepting applications for the inaugural Fall 2026 Venture Catalyst Program cohort. Participants may explore opportunities across artificial intelligence, biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, aerospace, energy systems, quantum technologies, advanced materials and other high-impact sectors.
Applications close September 30th. Those interested in the program can register for informational webinars scheduled for September 15th and September 29th.
For additional information, visit techlaunch.arizona.edu/venture-catalyst.