Evergreen fund fueled by philanthropic gifts invests in startups commercializing UA innovations

In 2023, Tech Launch Arizona (TLA) launched a campaign to create a seed fund dedicated to helping startups commercializing University of Arizona innovations span the “valley of death,” the period soon after a venture launches and faces its highest risk of failure. As of today, the Wildcat Philanthropic Seed Fund (WPSF) has raised nearly 60% of its initial goal and has now begun making its first investments. 

“We are deeply grateful to the donors who have made the contributions that have allowed us to launch and grow the fund,” said TLA Associate Vice President Doug Hockstad. “Their passion for UA innovation and entrepreneurship, paired with their generosity, are truly transforming our ecosystem.”

Following a rigorous application and vetting process, the WPSF has made its first investments in three startups commercializing inventions developed at the U of A: CarbeniumTec,  LifeSpan Digital Health and UGenome AI. 

CarbeniumTec

Launched in 2022, CarbeniumTec was founded to commercialize a new type of organic-based reduction-oxidation battery, known as a “redox flow battery,” that reimagines how electricity is stored. Based on the research of Thomas Gianetti, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and assistant professor at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and postdoctoral research associate at the time in Gianetti’s lab, Joules Moutet, the company is developing a sustainable, metal-free and environmentally friendly solution that addresses the need for large-scale, longer-term energy storage. 

The current lithium-ion-based batteries that dominate the stationary storage sector are best suited for four to six hours of storage. To effectively implement renewables like solar and wind energy on large scales, the market needs solutions that can store larger amounts of electricity for periods of eight to twelve hours. 

“While these (investment) funds are essential for us to develop our product, it’s not just about success on the technology level,” says Gianetti. “It will set us up for success on the business level, being able to go out there with this credibility from the institution and talk to venture capitalists.”

The team of co-founders consists of Gianetti, who serves as chief executive officer; Moutet, who serves as chief technology officer, and Tucson entrepreneur and TLA commercialization partner Philip Lacovara, who serves as chief operating officer.

Over the next two years, Lacovara says, the team will leverage this funding and additional seed funding to further develop the product and obtain the required certifications for the startup to begin making products and selling to customers. 

LifeSpan Digital Health

Image

One of the biggest challenges facing healthcare today is healthcare professional burnout. LifeSpan Digital Health is developing a software platform designed to tackle the issue through its platform, called emPower+, which offers a science-based, real-time solution to support physician and nurse wellness.

The tool is based on over twenty years of career research conducted by Dr. Samuel Keim, professor of emergency medicine and department head at the College of Medicine - Tucson. Dr. Keim’s work began with a simple observation: while some residents adapt and even thrive in stressful environments, others struggle, sometimes with serious consequences. According to information provided by the LifeSpan team, over 50 percent of physicians meet the clinical definition of burnout, and that jumps to 63 percent in the field of emergency medicine.

Dr. Keim’s co-founding partner, Jeff Cary, worked for many years in the mental and behavioral health fields and is leading the company as chief executive officer. Since forming, they have achieved a number of major milestones, making them an attractive investment for the WPSF, including launching a minimum viable product and securing pilot programs at five institutions, including one of the largest medical centers in the world.  

As of January 23, 2026, they have formally launched a pilot with the Department of Emergency Medicine Residency Program at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and have begun enrolling residents. 

According to Cary, the investment from the WPSF has “given us the traction that we need to make a difference and show credibility.” The funding has allowed the team to build out their infrastructure, provide additional support to their pilot sites, and position the startup for its next capital raise. 

UGenome AI

Image

UGenome AI got its start in 2023 when it licensed a novel platform for precisely targeting therapies for patients based on their genetic makeup developed by U of A doctoral student Adam Grant. UGenome's genomic platform helps people answer the question, "What next?", by providing medication response, food and longevity information from which ideal treatment options based on the patient's genetic profile can be identified. Ultimately, the company’s mission is exactly that: to accelerate the benefits of genomic medicine for patients and healthcare professionals through clinically actionable insights. 

When he originally developed the system, Grant was in a doctoral program at the U of A Cancer Biology Program at the Arizona Cancer Center offered through Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs. Today he is a full-time scientist at CancerVax.

Zachary S. Brooks, CEO of UGenome, who received his doctorate in bilingual decision making from the U of A in 2016, is grateful for the WPSF investment and opportunities it is opening for the startup.

“Receiving the Wildcat Philanthropic Seed Fund investment is hugely beneficial for us,” Brooks said. “It signals to other investors that we're a serious company, and that their money is de-risked in a way that it wasn't before. It also helps us invest in ourselves, go after customer acquisition and do some other things we couldn't do previously.” 

About the Wildcat Philanthropic Seed Fund

“Our goal is to grow the Fund to over $5 million,” said Hockstad, noting that, unlike traditional investment funds, the WPSF is expressly philanthropic; contributions to the fund are philanthropic gifts, and proceeds from liquidity events are reinvested back into the Fund, making it an evergreen resource for future U of A startups.

A secondary function of the WPSF is to provide experiential learning for university students through the opportunity to conduct due diligence with the investment committee, offering hands-on, real-world experience to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs and investors.

To receive funding, startup teams must complete an online application, which requires they have a clear affiliation with the U of A by having a student, faculty, staff member or alumnus on the team, or be commercializing U of A intellectual property. While investing in such early-stage ventures involves risk, the Wildcat Philanthropic Seed Fund targets companies with well-defined milestones and a path to follow-on investment. If a company is selected to proceed, the Fund's investment committee performs its own evaluation of the company's potential for success against its risk of failure, as well as the potential return. 

All three companies are taking advantage of an expanding innovation ecosystem. CarbeniumTec and LifeSpan Digital Health have already benefited from incubation programs at the University of Arizona Center for Innovation. With TLA’s launch of an incubator focused on U of A startups, they, along with UGenome, will continue their growth and expansion efforts through the commercialization office’s expanded services offering. 

Those interested in either applying for funding or making a contribution can learn more on the Tech Launch Arizona website.