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Launch Oregon director Nate Costa. (LinkedIn Photo)
Launch Oregon wants to help boost the researchers, engineers, and scientists at the University of Oregon commercialize their innovation and turn ideas into full-fledged companies.
The group got off the ground in 2023 with a unique approach to funding university spinouts.
It is not technically part of the university’s tech transfer office and operates differently than a traditional venture capital firm, given that it is an LLC funded by the University of Oregon Foundation.
Launch Oregon is investing out of a $3 million “proof of concept fund” to help validate its investment strategy.
It is tapping into innovation happening across the University of Oregon campus, and particularly at the Knight Campus science and research facility that opened in 2020 and is expanding.
“It’s bringing minds and people to campus that really haven’t been here before,” said Nate Costa, director at Launch Oregon.
Costa, a former University of Oregon football star, wants to take advantage of getting early access to potential startup founders and their groundbreaking ideas.
He said the structure of Launch Oregon, which operates as an LLC, offers some advantages.
“We are not necessarily beholden to all of the red tape and structures that sometimes exist in a university landscape,” Costa said.
The fund is making investments between $100,000 and $300,000 in seed deals that help companies get off the ground.
It focuses on startups led by founders who have university intellectual property, but also invests in other companies affiliated with the UO in some way — a professor at the university, or an alumni that’s now CEO of a company, for example.
It recently invested in Penderia Technologies, a UO spinout developing implantable wireless sensor technology designed to monitor injury and healing progress.
Launch Oregon shares some similarities with Pack Ventures, a traditional VC firm in Seattle that invests in startups with connection to the University of Washington. There are many other funds tied to large universities across the U.S.
Costa said he wants universities across Oregon to follow Launch Oregon’s lead and co-invest in startups together. He’s seen the model work well in other states such as Michigan.
He’s also hoping Launch Oregon attracts more tech talent to Eugene, Ore., which is known more for its college football chops and the birthplace of Nike than being a haven for tech entrepreneurs.
“Our job is to change that narrative,” Costa said.
