A new report from Innovate Carolina revealed that startups and commercialization activities affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill created nearly $8 billion in economic impact across North Carolina during fiscal year 2025. The findings highlight Carolina’s accelerating success in driving entrepreneurship, job creation, and innovation statewide.
According to the report, UNC-Chapel Hill’s innovation ecosystem, including faculty, students, staff, and alumni, continues to deliver record-breaking outcomes across key metrics of commercialization. Invention disclosures, provisional patent applications, issued U.S. patents, and intellectual property-based startup launches each grew by more than 20% over the previous year, signaling a surge in research translation and entrepreneurial momentum.
The total $7.96 billion in economic impact included $4.17 billion in direct impact, $2.14 billion in indirect effect, and $1.65 billion in induced impact from university-affiliated startups. The report also documented a 21% increase in invention disclosures, a 29% rise in new provisional patent applications, a 30% increase in issued U.S. patents, and a 33% increase in IP-based startups launched, tying the university’s record.
Carolina climbed 32 places on the National Academy of Inventors’ Top 100 Worldwide University List, the most significant single-year jump in the university’s history. And the report further noted that UNC-Chapel Hill now supports 682 active startups, including 537 headquartered in North Carolina. These ventures collectively sustain more than 131,000 jobs worldwide, with over 14,000 positions based in-state.
Several UNC-affiliated companies achieved significant milestones during the fiscal year. Liquidia received FDA approval and shipped its first commercial product, YUTREPIA. Pharmacosmos acquired G1 Therapeutics for $405 million. SonoVascular launched its first-in-human clinical trial, and skincare startup Carpe — co-founded by UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke alumni — was acquired by Topspin Consumer Partners.
These outcomes reflect the growing reach of Innovate Carolina, the university’s innovation and entrepreneurship network, which connects research, commercialization, and business development resources. The organization collaborates closely with the Office of Technology Commercialization, innovation gap funding programs, and shared coworking environments such as the Innovate Carolina Junction to help innovators translate ideas into real-world impact.
KEY QUOTES:
“As the volume of foundational research and number of valuable ideas at the University grow, we’ve built a strategy for translating more of the inventive thinking and discoveries that emerge from our labs and classrooms into products, services and companies that make a tangible impact for the people and economy of North Carolina.”
“The University’s innovation pipeline is driven by faculty who conduct research and develop new inventions, enterprising students who pursue bold solutions, staff who offer support, entrepreneurs who found new ventures, alumni and partners who invest and donors whose generosity fuels our momentum.”
Dedric A. Carter, Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development and Chief Innovation Officer, UNC-Chapel Hill
