Featured Startup Investment Opportunities

Below is our latest list of featured investment opportunities emerging from Columbia’s research labs. The fifteen startups featured span therapeutics, diagnostics, platform technologies, and software. As a reminder, you can peruse all 1000+ available technologies by keyword or faculty member here.

If any of these projects sound interesting to you, please email [email protected] for an introduction to the team:

  • Corvyv Therapeutics: Spun out from the lab of Columbia University cardiologist-scientist Dr. Barry Fine, Corvyv Therapeutics is developing small-molecule inhibitors of STK25 designed to prevent cardiomyocyte death during myocardial infarction. Heart attacks affect more than 800K people annually in the United States and remain a leading cause of heart failure worldwide. While current therapies restore blood flow to the heart, no treatments directly prevent the loss of heart muscle that occurs during ischemic injury. Corvyv’s approach targets STK25, a kinase that regulates cardiomyocyte survival under ischemic stress, with the goal of preserving viable heart muscle during heart attacks and improving long-term cardiac outcomes. Corvyv is advancing potent STK25 inhibitors with promising preclinical activity and favorable ADME properties. Corvyv is currently raising $1M to support lead optimization and preclinical development.
  • CTx: CTx is a preclinical stage Columbia-based spinout whose mission is to develop first-in-class drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and other diseases of aging. The company’s primary indication is progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a tauopathy that shares pathological features with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but is more tractable from a clinical trials perspective. However, AD and other tauopathies are potential secondary indications. CTx’s most advanced assets are small molecules that target proteostatic dysfunction. CTx’s brain-penetrant compounds have demonstrated in vivo efficacy across different transgenic and aged wild-type mouse models. Furthermore, the mechanisms targeted by CTx compounds are highly conserved in humans. Beyond neurodegeneration, CTx’s therapeutic strategy is also relevant to indications in oncology and virology. With several patent applications and inventions pending, the company was conceived in the laboratories of scientific co-founders Dr. Joseph Rayman and Dr. Donald Landry at Columbia University Medical Center. Drs. Rayman and Landry are joined by co-founder Robin Mansukhani (BoD at CTx and CEO at Deciduous Therapeutics). CTx is seeking a $5M seed investment to generate a development candidate within 24 months of funding.
  • MatRx Therapeutics: COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is presently the third leading cause of death in the USA. There is no approved therapy to prevent its progression once diagnosed. A fundamental pathological mechanism in COPD is lung elastin degradation which results in Pulmonary Emphysema, a destructive change in the tissue of the lung. Based on technology from former Columbia professors Dr. Gerard Turino and Dr. Jerome Cantor, MatRx Therapeutics is developing a patented aerosol to prevent lung elastin degradation. MatRx has developed a biomarker for elastin degradation using the amino acids desmosine and isodesmosine, which exist only in elastin in the body and can be measured in plasma, urine, and sputum. Hyaluronan is a normal constituent of lung tissue that is deficient in COPD lungs and will be replaced by Hyaluronan aerosol. Animal studies and two short-term human clinical trials have demonstrated that Hyaluronan replacement by the MatRx aerosol prevents lung elastin degradation. MatRx Therapeutics is seeking $8M for a longer-term clinical trial of three to four months in 80 or more COPD patients (half to receive placebo and half Hyaluronan aerosol).
  • LionBio Therapeutics: LionBio Therapeutics is building a nanoparticle drug-delivery platform with a lead asset in intranasal GLP-1s, a non-injectable alternative with 2-3x higher efficacy than orals and significantly fewer GI side effects. Beyond obesity, the platform enables direct nose-to-brain delivery, opening expansion paths into CNS indications like addiction and Alzheimer's. After launching in January, LionBio just closed a $6M seed round to advance preclinical data over the next year. The company is evaluating two go-to-market paths: a compound pharmacy DTC play to get to revenue quickly, or the traditional biotech route via a Phase 1 trial in Australia and 505(b)(2) in the US. The long-term vision is to become the dominant nasal and drug delivery platform, delivering a variety of peptides and biologics.  The team is composed of Robin Guo (ex-a16z, ex-McKinsey bio), Columbia professor Dr. Kam Leong (expert in nanoparticle drug delivery with 40+ patents), founding scientist Huiyi Liang, and advisor Dr. Edward Guo. LionBio recently closed a seed round and is looking to connect with potential investors for their next round.
  • ARKA Bio: Based on technology from Dr. Pawel Muranski's lab, ARKA Bio is developing a next-generation cell therapy platform designed to unlock the therapeutic potential of naturally occurring tumor-reactive T cells. While tumor-reactive lymphocytes are present in most cancer patients, they represent only a small fraction of circulating immune cells and are often diluted or functionally impaired during conventional manufacturing processes, limiting the durability and effectiveness of current adoptive cell therapies. The ARKA platform addresses this challenge by selectively enriching and conditioning rare tumor-reactive T cell clones directly from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Through a proprietary workflow that integrates multi-epitope immune priming, immune conditioning, and selective enrichment, ARKA generates highly functional and polyfunctional T cell populations capable of recognizing multiple tumor antigens. This approach enhances cytokine production, persistence, and therapeutic potency while avoiding key limitations of existing approaches. ARKA Bio is seeking to raise $6-8M in a Seed / Series A1 financing to complete GMP process characterization and IND-enabling studies, positioning the company for IND submission and initiation of First in Human clinical trial within approximately 18 months.
  • Technologies to Develop Treatments for Brain Energy Failure in GLUT1 Deficiency Syndrome: Dr. Umrao Monani is commercializing technologies which stem from pre-clinical findings that AAV-mediated GLUT1 (Glucose Transporter1) repletion will satisfy the unmet medical need of the debilitating brain energy failure syndrome, GLUT1 deficiency syndrome (GLUT1DS). Two parallel technologies, each emanating from the laboratory of Dr. Monani (Tang, M. et al, 2017, Nat. Comm. 8:14152; Tang, M. et al, 2026, J. Clin. Invest. e193519), will be leveraged to develop the GLUT1DS treatments he envisions. Each exploits AAV serotypes screened in primates for targeting brain vessels, where GLUT1 is required. The immediate focus is to develop a treatment for the relatively rare (~5K patients in US) GLUT1DS condition. However, outcomes obtained herein could become broadly applicable, as GLUT1 deficiency also characterizes retinitis pigmentosa (Incidence: ~1:4K) and Alzheimer’s disease (US prevalence = 7M). Seed funding of $6.5M is needed to complete PK/PD studies and initiate Phase I clinical trials.
  • Haystack Medical: Haystack Medical is developing a proprietary microneedle platform that enables safe, precise access to the inner ear for drug delivery and diagnostics. The technology was invented at Columbia through a collaboration between the laboratories of Dr. Jeffrey Kysar and Dr. Anil Lalwani. Treating inner-ear disorders has long been limited by the inability to safely cross the round window membrane, the only viable entry point into the cochlea. Haystack’s ultra-sharp microneedles enable controlled intracochlear access while preserving hearing and balance function. In 400+ animal model experiments, the technology has demonstrated strong safety and functional preservation. Cadaveric feasibility studies with Columbia surgeons have confirmed procedural usability and anatomical access, and the company is now advancing toward first-in-human clinical studies with institutional review underway. The platform has applications across hearing loss, Ménière’s disease, and emerging gene and regenerative therapies targeting the inner ear. Haystack is currently raising a $2M seed round to support clinical translation, regulatory progress, and early manufacturing scale-up.
  • ZX Oncology: ZX Oncology is an AI-powered oncology diagnostics company predicting treatment response in EGFR+ non-small cell lung cancer — one of the world's largest unmet needs in precision medicine. Built on patented radiomics technology developed by former Columbia professors Dr. Larry Schwartz and Dr. Binsheng Zhao and exclusively licensed from Columbia, ZX's algorithm analyzes standard CT imaging to predict which patients will respond to targeted therapies before committing them to futile treatment — a 1K:1 payer ROI. Three competing first-line EGFR regimens now create urgent demand for a response-prediction biomarker with no equivalent technology on the market. ZX is following the validated ArteraAI playbook toward FDA De Novo clearance, with a pharma-first go-to-market strategy targeting AstraZeneca, J&J, and Roche clinical trial datasets.​ ZX was founded by Simon Rasalingham, a serial healthcare technology entrepreneur who built ~$380M+ of enterprise value from zero: MEDICA GROUP (LSE-listed, UK's largest teleradiology provider), Synbiotix (acquired ~$65M+), and behold.ai (FDA 510(k), MHRA world-first fully autonomous AI classification, Prix Galien UK & International). ZX is raising a $20M Series A for a 30-month runway to FDA clearance.
  • LymeDx: Approximately 500K cases of Lyme disease are annually reported in the US. The frequency is increasing as global warming extends the geographic range of infected ticks and the duration of their feeding activity. Symptoms of Lyme disease include rash, fever, fatigue, joint/muscle aches, severe arthritis, heart palpitations, facial paralysis (Bell's palsy) or a chronic disabling disorder with post exertional malaise and cognitive dysfunction. Early treatment reduces the risk of complications. Diagnosis is based on clinical judgement and a cumbersome and expensive two-step test. Dr. Ian Lipkin and Dr. Rafal Tokarz created an inexpensive lateral flow test that provides a definitive diagnosis from a finger prick in less than 15 minutes. The test was validated at two sites using samples from the CDC, NIH and a Lyme disease biobank. LymeDx is seeking $500K to obtain regulatory approval from the NYSDOH for clinical use and then plans to seek FDA approval for wider use in physicians offices and pharmacies.
  • Mercury: The “Golden Hour” is the period immediately after trauma, stroke or a cardiac event when rapid intervention is critical to reducing morbidity and mortality. The same principle should also apply to infectious diseases. However, current methods for differential diagnosis are slow and insensitive. Dr. Ian Lipkin invented a simple, inexpensive method for rapidly identifying bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites responsible for all infectious diseases. The next step in the evolution of this technology is a fully automated, integrated, user-friendly benchtop instrument with an onboard interface that provides clinicians and public health practitioners with the medical intelligence needed for efficient health care delivery and global biosecurity. Mercury has regulatory approval from the NYSDOH to use the underlying patented capture sequencing technology in clinical microbiology. Mercury has invested $7M and seeks an additional $1M to complete two prototypes of the instrument that could be introduced to the market within two years and transform treatment of infectious diseases.
  • Hybernia Medical: Acute endovascular stroke treatment needs marked improvement. Despite huge recent improvements, with 90% of the vessels being opened, only 20% of these patients are free from disability. Developed by former Columbia professor Dr. John Pile-Spellman, Hybernia’s Intra-arterial Catheter system is used immediately after clot extraction to treat this unaddressed ischemic damage. In Q4 2025 Hybernia completed its First-In-Human, demonstrating feasibility and initial safety, and the FDA- awarded Hybernia a Breakthrough-Device Designation. Hybernia is currently raising a $7M Series A for multicenter study prior to the pivotal De Novo trial.
  • CardiAlc: Up to half of cardiac ablation procedures fail within a year because no commercial system can pinpoint the ablation target. Over 50K of these procedures are performed annually in the U.S. at $30K-$50K each. Electrophysiologists spend more than 30 minutes per case manually interpreting 3D heart maps, and outcomes depend entirely on the physician's experience. Based on inventions by Dr. Amardeep Saluja and Dr. Christine Hendon, CardiAIc is a Columbia spinout building real-time AI that connects to the mapping systems already in the EP lab and pinpoints probable ablation targets during the live procedure. The AI is trained on over 280 expert-annotated cases from four hospitals, the largest clinical dataset for real-time ablation targeting. The team is preparing a prospective clinical pilot at Columbia. The software runs on Abbott EnSite and Biosense Webster CARTO, the only cross-platform solution. CardiAIc is raising a $300K SAFE note to fund AI validation, a clinical pilot at Columbia, and a second platform launch.
  • VisionClear: Spun out of Dr. Sinisa Vukelic's lab, VisionClear is developing a non-surgical approach to permanent vision correction—a long-sought “holy grail” in ophthalmology as myopia rates accelerate globally. Today, the primary permanent option is refractive surgery (e.g., LASIK), which is invasive, excludes ~20–25% of patients, and carries rare but serious risks. VisionClear’s platform uses a low-energy ultrafast (femtosecond) laser to trigger a localized photochemical effect in the cornea, creating strengthening crosslinks without tissue cutting or optical breakdown. Because the effect is spatially resolved, treatment can be tailored to adjust corneal curvature, offering the potential for durable visual acuity improvement while expanding eligibility beyond conventional surgery. Founded in May 2025 with initial venture backing, VisionClear is raising $350K to complete a $500K pre-seed fundraising round to support ongoing animal studies, an FDA pre-submission, first-generation prototype fabrication, and preparation for pilot clinical trials.
  • CONCERN EWS: Developed by Dr. Sarah Rossetti, CONCERN Early Warning System (EWS) is an AI-driven clinical decision support platform that detects life-threatening deterioration of hospitalized patients hours to days earlier than the current standard of care by analyzing real-time nursing documentation patterns embedded directly within the EHR. In a landmark Nature Medicine multi-site randomized controlled study of 60K+ patients, CONCERN EWS reduced in-hospital mortality risk by 35.6%, shortened length of stay by over half a day, and decreased sepsis risk by 7.5%, while prompting ICU escalation up to two days earlier. Independently validated across 200+ U.S. hospitals, CONCERN EWS demonstrated reproducibility and generalizable performance without site-specific retraining. CONCERN plans to commercialize through EHR licensing to drive rapid adoption and recurring revenue. CONCERN EWS is currently raising a $5M seed round.
  • DNA Curtains: DNA Curtains, Inc. (DCI) is a Columbia University spin-out commercializing a high-throughput single-molecule imaging platform designed to revolutionize the study of genomic protein dynamics. Based on technology pioneered in the lab of Columbia’s Dr. Eric Greene, DCI’s flagship DNA Curtains Flow Cell enables researchers to visualize real-time DNA-protein interactions such as DNA repair, replication, and transcription, with unprecedented precision and ease of use. While traditional assays provide only bulk averages, DCI’s platform allows for the simultaneous observation of hundreds of individual DNA molecules using standard microscopy. By transitioning complex biophysical assays into a scalable, consumable-based workflow, DCI is uniquely positioned to capture the academic and high-growth biotech/pharma R&D markets. The company is currently seeking $2M in seed funding to scale domestic operations, expand its customer base across global research institutions, and bridge the gap from academic discovery to pharmaceutical drug discovery.

 

Featured startup investment opportunities from Fall 2025 are available here.