Deep Tech Ventures Summit: Industry Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Investors Convene
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Explore new investment opportunities, learn how deep tech is reshaping industries on a global scale, and engage with a diverse community of tech leaders at the Deep Tech Ventures Summit, hosted by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
“Bringing together our vibrant ecosystem of entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and other key people in this space is an incredible opportunity to learn from one another, network, and see what life-changing innovation is on the horizon,” said Samir Mayekar, managing director of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “The event also marks the graduation our accelerators – the end of programming but not of our support, and just the beginning of many more good things to come.
The Polsky Center’s Deep Tech Ventures – an initiative launched in 2023 to provide sector-specific expertise, entrepreneurial training, and funding – currently supports three accelerators: Duality, Transform, and Resurgence. These programs focus on quantum, data science and AI, and cleantech, respectively.
>> Register today for the Deep Tech Ventures Summit on Tuesday, June 18, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Chicago.
At the Summit, accelerator participants and other startups from the University of Chicago ecosystem will give quick pitches about their work – from novel therapies and diagnostics to battery and nuclear fuel recycling technologies, among many other innovations. More than 20 startups will be present.
“The ideas and projects being discussed at the Deep Tech Ventures Summit have the potential to change the world for the better,” said Juan de Pablo, the University of Chicago’s Executive Vice President for Science, Innovation, National Laboratories, and Global Initiatives. “The dynamic partnerships that develop as a result of this summit will transform our understanding of exciting fields like clean energy and data science, and bring diverse populations together to tackle some of humanity’s greatest challenges.”
Being leveraged by nearly every industry, artificial intelligence will be the topic of the morning’s keynote from Google AI’s Director of Product Management and UX, Satyajeet Salgar, MBA ’07. David Uminsky, executive director of the University of Chicago’s Data Science Institute, will moderate the discussion about building product in the age of AI.
The afternoon will feature a dialogue between two female healthcare entrepreneurs: keynote Sheila Mikhail, MBA ’93, adviser and cofounder of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio), and moderator Jennifer Fried, MBA ’15, CEO and cofounder of Flow Medical.
Panel discussions include:
- From Lab-to-Fab: Unlocking the Potential of Quantum Computing in the Real World
- Clean Energy Revolution: Building Sustainable Solutions for a Greener Future
- Beyond the Valley: The Rise of AI Innovation in the Midwest
- The Role of the University in Building a Life Science Ecosystem
The day will also feature multiple networking and collaboration opportunities.
“As deep tech continues to transform every facet of the business landscape, True Blue Partners is proud to support the Polsky Center and the Deep Tech Ventures Summit in their mission of propelling groundbreaking ideas into real-world solutions,” said Sunil Grover, MBA ’99, venture partner at True Blue Partners, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm investing in early-stage AI companies.
Winston Gu, JD ‘12, a founding partner of Cooley’s Chicago office, expressed excitement about sponsoring the Deep Tech Ventures Summit by highlighting Cooley’s commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration in Chicago’s deep tech ecosystem. He said, “We are thrilled to support this year’s Deep Tech Ventures Summit as it provides a unique and impactful platform for deep tech startups to connect with investors and industry leaders.”
The Deep Tech Ventures Summit is sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Caruso Ventures, Cooley, McAndrews, True Blue Partners, and TechNexus Venture Collaborative.
Venture to Change the World
Since the launch of Duality, the nation’s first quantum technology startup, in 2021, the Polsky Center has strengthened its offerings of industry-specific accelerator programs through Deep Tech Ventures.
Last year the initiative announced a new cleantech accelerator, Resurgence, which is well underway with its first cohort of six startups. This includes ExPost Technology – which recently received $8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the development of its advance mobile machinery system for pre-processing consumer electronics and batteries.
Transform, the Polsky Center’s data science and AI accelerator, is on its third cohort and participants are already setting records: earlier this year, Cohort 2’s Echo Labs raised a historic pre-seed funding round of $7.4 million, the most ever raised in Chicago. And Duality continues to cement its place as the leading quantum startup accelerator, solidifying its fourth cohort which will be announced next month.
These are just a few examples of recent successes – in the last year, Polsky-affiliated startups have raised more than $700 million, and there’s more to come.
