The University of Arizona set a record for inventions in fiscal year 2025, achieving 324 invention disclosures, surpassing the previous record of 307 in 2024, according to Tech Launch Arizona (TLA).
TLA protects intellectual property, researches the market for innovations, and markets inventions to potential licensees. In 2025, they secured 94 patents and executed 86 licenses, generating $12.1 million in royalties, including income from the acquisition of Neuro-ID by Experian.
TLA also launched Startup Wildcats to support student entrepreneurship, collaborating with over 80 ventures and awarding more than $20,000 in funding for innovative ideas, such as aquaponics technology and AI-driven healthcare solutions.
Looking forward, TLA will focus on technology-driven ventures that match the university’s research strengths and will collaborate with graduate students to transform intellectual property into market-ready startups. Additionally, the Wildcat Philanthropic Seed Fund, established in 2024, provides ongoing funding for early-stage University of Arizona-affiliated startups through philanthropic support.
The TLA-supported startups from fiscal year 2025 include the following:
1.) Rebuild After Stroke provides educational content and practical assistance to empower stroke survivors in recovery, developed by Kristian Doyle, professor in the College of Medicine – Tucson and the BIO5 Institute.
2.) Lifespan Digital Health helps address physician shortages by preventing health care provider burnout, based on the research of Dr. Samuel Keim, professor in the College of Medicine – Tucson.
3.) Aging Health Sciences, a research-based health supplement company specializing in eye health, brings to market nutraceuticals developed by ophthalmologist Dr. Robert Snyder and Brian McKay, professor in the College of Medicine – Tucson.
4.) DBXL offers educational materials that build finance, data analytics, and critical thinking skills, developed by David Brown, associate professor in the Eller College of Management.
5.) ProxyBio enables pharmaceutical companies and physicians to identify the most effective therapies through an innovative, high-volume compound screening platform, invented in the College of Medicine – Tucson and the BIO5 Institute by assistant research professor Kelvin Pond, associate professor Curtis Thorne, associate professor Samuel Campos, and Elaheh Alizadeh, a former postdoctoral research associate.
6.) Voices Unheard is a company formed to market and distribute a documentary film made in the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences about groundwater pollution by filmmaker and entrepreneur Sandra Westdahl, who earned her Bachelor of Arts from the U of A’s School of Journalism.
7.) Branch Therapeutics drives therapies based on multi-targeted kinase inhibitors to address metastatic cancer, based on innovations developed at the College of Medicine – Tucson and the College of Science by Professor Christopher Hulme, Associate Professor Curtis Thorne, and several external partners who are former U of A students and researchers.
8.) Aspiro Therapeutics drives disease-modifying therapies that target the underlying mechanisms of conditions like asthma and COPD, developed in the College of Medicine – Tucson and the BIO5 Institute by associate professor Julie Ledford, associate professor Michael D. L. Johnson, associate research professor Josef Vagner, and professor Dr. Stefano Guerra.
9.) Senphonix brings to market wearable technologies capturing high-fidelity physiological data for an uninterrupted, automated view of patient health, developed in the College of Engineering and the BIO5 Institute by associate professor Philipp Gutruf; Tucker Stewart, a senior research and development engineer with medical device company CVRx who earned his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the U of A in 2023; and Kevin Kasper, a doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering.
10.) iMagine Design harnesses diagnostic intelligence to allow clinicians to correlate symptoms with changes in mobility to help care providers make treatment and intervention decisions, leveraging technologies invented by professor Janet Roveda and associate professor Kavan Hazeli of the College of Engineering and the BIO5 Institute, with UCLA Professor Emeritus Bahram Jalali, U of A global professor Xuejing Wang, and Hill’s Nutrition Associate Scientist Rylie Watson, a former U of A graduate research assistant.
11.) Kuairu drives a design for a solar tower for large-scale drying of food waste, invented by Professor Goggy Davidowitz in CALES.
12.) Respiradigm drives a new risk assessment test for asthma development at birth, developed by Regents Professor Dr. Fernando Martinez and Professor Dean Billheimer, both with the College of Medicine – Tucson and the BIO5 Institute.
13.) VerdiTx creates technologies to harness green light as a therapy for managing pain, invented by Dr. Mohab Ibrahim, professor of anesthesiology, and University of Florida professor Rajesh Khanna, formerly with the U of A.
13 startups launched
TLA helped launch 13 startups in the past year based on inventions ranging from cancer therapies to solar towers that dry food waste.
KEY QUOTES:
“We measure the university’s inventiveness and engagement by invention disclosures. Each time an employee – whether they’re a faculty member, researcher, graduate student or other staff member – comes to our team with an invention, they fill out a simple form, and that’s when the commercialization process begins.”
“When new companies are founded to bring inventions to market, not only do new technologies find a path to market, but also these new companies create jobs and economic impact for our community and our state.”
“It’s truly exciting to see the whole of the commercialization pipeline functioning so strongly. From the pace of invention disclosures to the launch and success of our startup pipeline to those companies starting to reap the benefits of the Seed Fund, we’re in a time of growth both here at the U of A and throughout the ecosystem.”
Doug Hockstad, associate vice president of Tech Launch Arizona
“Transforming research into societal benefit requires more than great ideas, it demands trusted partnerships and a shared commitment to progress. Arizona’s momentum reflects a deep collaboration across the university and with external partners who help bring discoveries to life in ways that strengthen communities, fuel economic vitality and create lasting public value.”
“Startup Wildcats demonstrated the power of student-driven entrepreneurship to energize our campus and spark new ideas. Building on that success, we’re now uniting TLA’s undergraduate initiatives with broader campus programs to focus more intentionally on engaging students in deep tech ventures grounded in university discoveries.”
Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships
“It just made sense. With TLA being the center for expertise and resources to help faculty launch startups, it was the perfect place and time to advance programs to help undergraduates cultivate their entrepreneurial aspirations, as well.”
Derick Maggard
