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Have an invention? Tell us about it! Not sure if it's an invention? Still come talk to us! Please note that public disclosures such as conference abstracts and publications may preclude our ability to protect your invention. Be sure to inform OTC of any imminent or prior disclosures!

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Mission

Through our partnerships with faculty, industry, entrepreneurs and investors, ensure that Duke innovations reach the marketplace for the benefit of society and to enable future investment in Duke research and innovation.

Vision

Duke will be a leader in transferring its knowledge and innovations to the worldwide community.

IMPACT: By The Numbers

  • $82.6M

    Total Revenue in FY24

  • $2.4B+

    Capital Raised by Duke Start-Ups in Past 5 Years

  • 126

    Current Active Start-Ups

News

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Tune Therapeutics Completes Over $175M in Series B Financing to Advance Field-Leading Epigenome Editing Programs

Tune Therapeutics is a Duke University start-up and Duke Capital Partners portfolio company developing epigenetic editing spun out of the lab of co-founder Professor Charles…

Read More about Tune Therapeutics Completes Over $175M in Series B Financing to Advance Field-Leading Epigenome Editing Programs

Humacyte Announces FDA Approval of SYMVESS™ (acellular tissue engineered vessel-tyod) for the Treatment of Extremity Vascular Trauma

Humacyte is a Duke University start-up out of the lab of Dr. Laura Niklason (formerly Anesthesiology, SOM), co-founded with Drs. Juliana Blum and Shannon Dahl.

Read More about Humacyte Announces FDA Approval of SYMVESS™ (acellular tissue engineered vessel-tyod) for the Treatment of Extremity Vascular Trauma

Duke, UNC, and NC State academics get crash course in building startups

Faculty and students with promising IP developed at Triangle universities were invited to workshop their ideas with the help of serial entrepreneurs.

Read More about Duke, UNC, and NC State academics get crash course in building startups

Faculty & Innovators

We work together to augment the impact of your innovations, build connections with industrial, entrepreneurial, legal and investment resources and amplify the value and impact of your Duke innovations.

Learn more about our process

Industry & Partners

Partner with us to bring transformational ideas to the marketplace.

Collaborate with us

New Ventures

Let us help you think through the opportunity, craft a business plan, and connect with the management, mentors, and investors to make your venture a success!

Meet our New ventures Group

Duke Capital Partners

The investment network of Duke alumni, faculty, and parents which provides its members with exciting opportunities to invest in early-stage companies with a Duke connection – and for Duke-affiliated entrepreneurs to pitch their companies for potential investment.

Visit the Duke Capital Partners website

Translational Funds

Learn more about translational funding resources and opportunities that aim to accelerate the path from research to commercialization.

How we support your translational work

Our Technologies

Looking for cutting-edge technology? We welcome you to browse our list of available technologies from therapeutics to imaging and software and find one that will make a difference!

View our Available Technologies

Resources

Bringing your innovation to the market requires a lot of resources. We are here to guide you on available resources at Duke and beyond that will help you realize your dream.

See Available Reources

Duke Start-ups

  • Tune Therapeutics

  • Duke Start-up: IonQ

    Quantum Computing   IONQ is developing world-leading general-purpose quantum information processors. Our unique trapped ion approach combines unmatched physical performance, perfect qubit replication, optical networkability, and highly-optimized algorithms to create a quantum computer that is as scalable as it is powerful and that will support a broad array of applications across a variety of industries. Duke Startup IonQ Becomes First Publicly Traded, Pure-Play Quantum Computing Company; Closes Business Combination with dMY Technology Group III     Success Story IonQ Becomes First Publicly Traded, Pure-Play Quantum Computing Company; Closes Business Combination with dMY Technology Group III   COLLEGE PARK, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE),...

    Founded:

    2016

    Duke Inventors:

    Jungsang Kim, Chris Monroe

    Visit Website for IonQ

  • Duke Start-up: Tune Therapeutics

    Tune Therapeutics is pioneering the creation of epi-therapeutic medicines. The vast majority of human disease is governed by the epigenome, the subtle machinery that controls the volume of gene expression in cells. Traditional genetic medicines have long focused on protein-coding gene sequences, which constitute only 2% of the human genome. By exploring the other 98% that regulates these genes, the company is discovering novel targets that are invisible or inaccessible to prior approaches.   Tune Therapeutics Launches with Pioneering Epigenomic Control Platform to Master Gene Networks, Treat Broad Range of Diseases

    Founded:

    2021

    Duke Inventors:

    Charlie Gersbach

    Visit Website for Tune Therapeutics

  • Duke Start-up: Humacyte

    Engineered human collagen-based products Founded in 2004 by Laura Niklason, M.D., Ph.D. with Drs. Shannon Dahl and Juliana Blum, Humacyte is a privately-held company led by experts in clinical trials, regulatory affairs, business and commercial development, finance, and intellectual property management. Our headquarters in Morrisville, NC includes a dedicated clean facility for clinical production, and laboratories for cell isolation, analytical/QC, and product development. Humacyte’s mission is to become the leading company in novel, off-the-shelf extracellular matrix tissue products, and especially those that could provide lifesaving improvements in treatments for vascular conditions. Because we grow these tissue replacements in vitro from banked vascular...

    Founded:

    2006

    Duke Inventors:

    Laura Niklason

    Visit Website for Humacyte

  • Duke Start-up: Restor3d

    Restore3d is enabling surgeons to repair and reconstruct the human body by uniting 3D printing, biomaterials, biomechanics, and AI.

    Founded:

    2017

    Duke Inventors:

    Ken Gall

    Visit Website for Restor3d

  • Duke Start-up: Warden Bio

    Warden Bio is developing novel AAV-mediated gene therapies for glycogen storage disorders (GSDs). The GSD gene therapy  is based on research led by the lab of  Dr. Priya Kishnani, Chen Family Distinguished Professor & Division Chief for Medical Genetics at Duke University, in close collaboration with Dr. Aravind Asokan, Professor & Director of Gene Therapy at Duke University and Co-Founder of StrideBio. Over the past three decades, Dr. Kishnani has built an interdisciplinary team with world-leading GSD expertise whose efforts are most notably demonstrated by the long-standing research and clinical experience that resulted in FDA approval of alglucosidase alfa (Myozyme/Lumizyme) as the...

    Founded:

    2021

    Duke Inventors:

    Kishnani Priya, Aravind Asokan, Sun Baodong

    Visit Website for Warden Bio

  • Duke Start-up: Solar Unsoiled

    Solar Unsoiled is an interactive, data-driven platform to optimize global solar energy production. The company is maximizing solar energy profit and reducing financial risk using predictive models to mitigate the impact of energy losses due to dust and air pollution. Solar Unsoiled targets optimization surrounding the issue of detrimental soiling losses.

    Founded:

    2022

    Duke Inventors:

    Michael Valerino

    Visit Website for Solar Unsoiled

  • Duke Start-up: Basking Biosciences Inc.

    Basking Bio, founded by endovascular neurosurgeon and research scientist, Shai Nimjee, is developing a drug-antidote pair for treatment of patients with ischemic stroke using technologies founded out of Duke Professor of Surgery, Bruce Sullenger’s Cardiovascular Biology Lab. Basking Biosciences is developing the only reversible anti-thrombotic therapeutic to treat ischemic stroke. Founded based on IP licensed from Duke and Ohio State Universities, DTRI-031, Basking’s lead compound, leverages the proven aptamer technology platform developed in founder Bruce Sullenger’s lab at Duke to create a highly specific inhibitor of Von Willebrand Factor (VWF) and a paired reversal agent. This paired therapy enables rapid...

    Founded:

    2020

    Duke Inventors:

    Bruce Sullenger , Shai Nimjee

    Visit Website for Basking Biosciences Inc.

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Events

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  • National Academy of Inventors, nominations from Duke 2025

    Individuals with a strong record of patented innovation may be eligible for nomination to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellows program—learn how to be considered through Duke’s coordinated process.

    May 1 @ 8:00 am

    Learn More