GAP Community News
The University Gap Funding/Accelerator Weekly update, a resource for those interested in university-affiliated translational research, proof of concept, startup, and venture gap fund/accelerator program
University Gap Funding and Accelerator Community News

San Diego State University Social Venture Challenge 2025 awards $35,000 to food security innovators
Proposals to reduce food waste, innovative nutritional products and apps developed by aspiring entrepreneurs were among the prize-winning ideas offering solutions to food security presented at San Diego State University’s annual Social Venture Challenge. Supported by the Sprouts Healthy Communities
Loyola announces first faculty innovation fellows | Loyola University Maryland
Loyola University Maryland’s Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship established an innovation fellowship for faculty members to help them integrate innovation and entrepreneurship education into their classrooms and departments. “The goal of the program is to provide students across disciplines with an

Six faculty will receive 2025 WSU Commercialization Gap Funding awards
The Office of Commercialization has awarded six WSU researchers with the Commercialization Gap Fund (CGF). The CGF supports research projects with high market potential and provides researchers up to $50,000 to demonstrate that their innovations(s) have the ability to make

Provost launches Discovery Bridge Funding Program | Vanderbilt University
Over the past few months, the federal research funding landscape has begun to shift. As a response to some of the transitions taking place, Vanderbilt University is launching the Provost Discovery Bridge Funding Program. This program will provide short-term financial

BioMed X Launches XBridge Program to Support Biomedical Researchers Impacted by NIH Funding Gaps
Heidelberg, Germany, April 7th, 2025. BioMed X, an independent biomedical research institute based in Heidelberg, Germany, has announced the launch of its XBridge Program, a fast-track initiative designed to support U.S.-based biomedical researchers impacted by the current NIH funding gaps, hiring

Universities must become active launchpads for innovation-The Hill
Excerpt: This university-government alignment is not simply a driver of prosperity; it is fundamental to American security. Undermining this critical bond jeopardizes our national security and interests. This reliance is clearly seen in the Department of Defense, which depends heavily

UT’s Discovery to Impact Invests in TAU Systems’ Laser Driven Particle Accelerator
AUSTIN, Texas — Discovery to Impact at The University of Texas at Austin has invested $250,000 through the UT Seed Fund in TAU Systems, a company focused on commercializing the world’s first compact laser-driven particle accelerator to expedite breakthroughs in
La Trobe launches fund to invest in start-ups
The Omni-System has been developed by start-up company Gaia Project Australia (GPA) in collaboration with La Trobe researchers from the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (SCEMS) and the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment (SABE). The company’s flagship

Venture Capital’s Dangerous Divide: The $6.6 Billion Mega Deals And Everyone Else
How Big Money Is Leaving Most Startups Behind For elite VC investors backing companies like OpenAI and SpaceX, 2024 has been an amazing year with multi-billion-dollar deals and sky-high valuations. But step outside this exclusive circle, and you’ll find a
Blazing New Trails to the Endless Frontiers: Transformation of America’s University Research
We are at an inflection point. For four score years or so, the research enterprise that fueled the American innovation engine was built on the Bell Labs model and the NSF model. In the latter, a social contract was implicitly