More than $500,000 was awarded to 11 Purdue University startups to aide in their advancement, ranging from networking apps to appliances that grow produce.
The Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund provides money for Purdue-affiliated startups with pre-seed, seed and early stage investment and co-investment programs. Since the program’s beginning in 2014, the fund has committed to invest $2.5 million in 59 Purdue affiliated startups, according to a news release.
Five startups were selected by the foundry fund to receive the “Gold Award,” or $80,000 each: Vinsense, Brightlamp, Socio, Heliponix and Explore Interactive, the release said.
Seven startups were picked for the tier-one “Black Award” of $20K each, funded by jointed venture between the Purdue Foundry and Elevate Ventures, a private venture development organization: UniBubbles, HaptImage, HySonic Technologies, UniRide, MediTrak, Cyber Inform and Socio.
Socio; a social media application that links users’ information, including email, phone number and social media accounts into one profile making it easier to swap information; was the only startup to win both award levels, totaling $100K.
“The early success that these startups have shown demonstrates the strong pipeline of innovation taking place at Purdue,” Elevate Ventures CEO Chris LaMothe said. “The Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund is designed to support entrepreneurship and help Indiana-based companies move on to the next level as they create jobs and foster economic growth.”
Alihan Ozbayrak, co-founder of Socio, said his company aides large scale clients like Microsft, Google and PepsiCo as well as hundreds more in 11 other countries.
“We are excited to have Purdue Foundry involved in our fundraising process,” Ozbayrak said.
Source: Purdue Foundry invests over $500K to university start ups
