University venture funds
Venture funds run by or for a university: seed funds, technology-transfer funds and investor networks tied to the university, which back companies from its research, students, staff or alumni.
- All 46, by name and place. With what each one does, in its own words or the register’s.
- From the public record. From Websites of the university funds listed, linked to each entry’s source.
- Take it with you. Every capital source as CSV, and all of them searchable together in Capital Sources.
46 university venture funds on the record
The numbers
| Where | Sources |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 7 |
| Japan | 6 |
| Sweden | 6 |
| Canada | 3 |
| Illinois | 3 |
| Australia | 2 |
| Belgium | 2 |
| Indiana | 2 |
| Elsewhere | 12 |
| Source | Location | On the record |
|---|---|---|
| 1842 Fund | — | Inception and pre-seed venture fund anchored by the University of Notre Dame and managed by Alloy Partners. |
| Berkeley SkyDeck Fund | Berkeley | Assets under management: $85M |
| Buff Gold Ventures | Boulder | Venture fund that invests in University of Colorado founders and in startups licensing the university's intellectual property. |
| Cambridge Enterprise Ventures | United Kingdom | Invests University of Cambridge capital in early-stage spin-outs and start-ups from the university and follows on in later rounds. |
| Cambridge Innovation Capital | United Kingdom | Series A investor in life sciences and deep tech companies in the Cambridge ecosystem, under an agreement with the University of Cambridge. |
| Carolina Angel Network | — | University-affiliated angel network that syndicates early-stage investments from UNC alumni and supporters into startups with UNC ties. |
| Chalmers Ventures | Gothenburg | Evergreen investor and venture builder that invests in technology companies with clear links to Chalmers, from pre-seed to growth. |
| Delft Enterprises | Netherlands | Takes stakes in early-stage, technology-based spin-off companies of Delft University of Technology, with investment and advice. |
| Duke Capital Partners | Durham | Duke University's manager-led angel group; members with a Duke connection invest in early-stage companies led by Duke-affiliated people. |
| E14 Fund | — | Venture fund officially affiliated with MIT; invests in deep-tech startups whose founders or key contributors come from MIT. |
| Gemma Frisius Fund | Belgium | Evergreen seed capital fund for KU Leuven spin-off companies, set up in 1997 by KU Leuven, KBC Bank and BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity. |
| George Shultz Innovation Fund | Chicago | Pre-seed fund managed by the University of Chicago's Polsky Center; invests in science-based, deep-tech and AI ventures from the university. |
| GU Ventures | Gothenburg | Builds, runs and invests in research-based companies, including ones based on research at the University of Gothenburg. |
| Husker Venture Fund | Lincoln | Student-led venture fund at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln that gives early-stage capital to student- and faculty-led startups. |
| Illinois Ventures | IL | University of Illinois venture firm, founded in 2000; invests at pre-seed, seed and Series A in companies with a University of Illinois connection. |
| IU Ventures | Bloomington | IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, capital to invest: $11M |
| Keio Innovation Initiative | Tokyo | Venture capital firm tied to Keio University; leads seed and early-stage investments in startups that use research from Keio and elsewhere. |
| KTH Ventures | Stockholm | Venture capital arm of KTH Royal Institute of Technology; a first investor in companies commercializing research and ideas from KTH. |
| Kyoto University Innovation Capital | Kyoto | Venture capital firm wholly owned by Kyoto University; invests in startups commercializing research from Kyoto and other Japanese national universities. |
| LiU Invest | Sweden | Invests in companies that commercialize knowledge from Linköping University. |
| McMaster Seed Fund | Canada | McMaster University's pre-seed investment fund, set up in 2021 for startups commercializing research from the university or its affiliated hospitals. |
| Michigan Rise | East Lansing | Pre-seed fund run by a subsidiary of the Michigan State University Research Foundation; invests in early-stage Michigan technology companies. |
| Midlands Mindforge | United Kingdom | Patient capital investment company co-founded by eight research-intensive universities in the Midlands; invests in spinouts and early-stage science companies. |
| N.XT Fund | Evanston | Northwestern University's fund for pre-seed and seed investments in ventures built on technology the university owns. |
| Northern Gritstone | Manchester | Investment company working with the universities of Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool; backs spinouts and science companies in the North of England. |
| NYU Innovation Venture Fund | New York | New York University's evergreen seed fund, founded in 2010, for startups founded by or built on technology from NYU students, faculty and researchers. |
| Old College Capital | Edinburgh | The University of Edinburgh's venture investment fund; invests from pre-seed to Series A in startups and spinouts from the university. |
| Osaka University Venture Capital | Suita | Venture capital firm wholly owned by The University of Osaka, established in 2014; invests in startups using research from Japanese universities. |
| Oxford Science Enterprises | Oxford | Independent investment company and venture builder in partnership with the University of Oxford; creates and funds companies from Oxford research. |
| Purdue Innovates Ventures | West Lafayette | Invests from pre-seed to Series A+ in startups led by Purdue alumni, students, faculty or staff, or licensing Purdue-owned technology. |
| Qbic | Sint-Denijs-Westrem | Inter-university seed and early-stage venture fund; backs spin-offs and startups using research from its partner universities, institutes and hospitals. |
| Tin Alley Ventures | Carlton | Fund created by the University of Melbourne with Tanarra Capital; invests from seed to pre-IPO in companies tied to the university. |
| Tohoku University Venture Partners | Japan | Venture capital company that supports putting Tohoku University research results to use in society through venture investment. |
| Tulane Ventures | New Orleans | Seed fund size: $10M |
| UCeed | Calgary | Group of donor-funded early-stage investment funds at the University of Calgary for research-based startups; returns are reinvested. |
| UCL Technology Fund | United Kingdom | Fund that invests in technologies and spinouts from UCL research; managed by AlbionVC with UCL's technology transfer company. |
| UF Innovate | Ventures | Gainesville | Venture fund per fiscal year: $2M |
| Umeå University Holding | Sweden | Umeå University's holding company; invests in early-phase companies built on research and ideas from the university's researchers, staff and students. |
| Uniseed | Australia | Venture investor owned by Australian universities and CSIRO, established in 2000; funds companies from its partners' research. |
| UTEC (The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners) | Tokyo | Assets under management (approximate US dollar figure it states): $1B |
| UTokyo Innovation Platform (UTokyo IPC) | Tokyo | Investment company wholly owned by the University of Tokyo, established in 2016; invests in and supports startups from universities and research institutions. |
| UU Invest | Sweden | Uppsala University's investment company; invests in early companies developing ideas and research from the university. |
| UVA LVG Seed Fund | Charlottesville | Fund size: $10M |
| Velocity Fund | Waterloo | Pre-seed fund anchored by the University of Waterloo's endowment; backs technical founders from Waterloo and beyond. |
| WARF Ventures | Madison | Fund of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; gives seed and growth funding to startups commercializing University of Wisconsin–Madison technologies. |
| Wolfpack Investor Network | Raleigh | NC State University's angel investing platform; alumni, parents and friends of the university invest in NC State-affiliated startups. |
Other sources of capital
Angel groups Venture debt lenders Revenue-based financing providers Corporate venture arms Sovereign wealth funds Venture studios Placement agents Wealth platforms Corporate pension plans SBICs Union pension plans Pension master trusts Crowdfunding portals Community development lenders SBA lenders Federal R&D grant programs
About the data
University venture funds. Venture funds run by or for a university: seed funds, technology-transfer funds and investor networks tied to the university, which back companies from its research, students, staff or alumni. Compiled by hand on 2026-10-11 from each fund's own website or its page on the university's site; no directory or ranking was copied. Listed are funds, investment companies and investor networks run by a university or its foundation, owned or anchored by one or more universities, or operating under a stated agreement or affiliation with one. source_url is the page that was fetched that day and that the summary rests on. The summary is our own sentence. Facts repeat what the site says: the university, who is eligible, and the check size where stated. City, state and country are given only where the site states them (country also where the site is the university's own or the company's national registration is plain from it). figure_usd is a fund size or assets figure stated in US dollars on the site, with figure_label saying which; amounts in other currencies, including Canadian and Australian dollars, are left in the facts unconverted. Nothing is estimated. Left out: funds whose pages could not be fetched, answered with a block page, or showed no update since 2024. As of October 11, 2026. Source: Websites of the university funds listed.
Organizations only: no individuals are listed. A listing is a public record, not a recommendation.
Data feed: every capital source as CSV.
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