On October 30, 2025, innovators, investors, and university leaders from across the country gathered virtually for Venturium Fall ’25, a premier academic venture showcase designed to accelerate early-stage commercialization. Hosted by Northeastern University’s Center for Research Innovation (CRI) in partnership with the Technology Transfer Venture Consortium (TTVC), the event featured 14 startups from eight leading academic institutions—each working to turn breakthrough science into real-world solutions.
The half-day event connected founders actively raising pre-seed or seed rounds with venture capital firms, accelerators, and other innovation ecosystem partners. The showcase reflected the growing momentum of TTVC’s collaborative model, which simplifies access to academic innovation for investors while giving founders a platform to build lasting relationships beyond the event.
“Venturium continues to demonstrate the strength of academic collaboration,” said Katie Hemphill, Director of Technology Ventures and Talent Network at Northeastern. “We’re seeing meaningful follow-up conversations, new partnerships, and expanding investor interest in our spinouts, which is exactly what this platform was designed to do.”
A Network of Universities Powering Innovation
Venturium is organized by TTVC, a national consortium of more than 20 organizations that bridges the gap between university spinouts and the external entrepreneurial ecosystem, connecting early-stage research ventures with scale capital and growth resources. This year’s participating institutions included Northeastern University, Cornell University, Rutgers University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Louisville, the University of Pennsylvania, Washington University in St. Louis, and First Flight Venture Center, a non-profit that supports academic institutions from across the state of North Carolina.
Together, TTVC curated a diverse lineup spanning AgTech, CleanTech, MedTech, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics. This event provided investors a front-row seat to emerging innovations with market potential and helped founders gain faster and more equitable access to capital, mentorship, and commercialization pathways.
Session Highlights: From Sustainable Agriculture to Breakthrough Therapies
The Fall ’25 program featured two sessions showcasing companies ready to engage with investors and ecosystem partners.
Session 1 spotlighted ventures in AgTech, CleanTech, and MedTech, tackling a range of real-world problems, including reducing food waste, innovating battery technology, automating laboratory equipment, and facilitating faster organ transplants.
Session 2 shifted to Diagnostics and Therapeutics. Northeastern spinouts BrilliantStrings Therapeutics and pacDNA represented the university in this category. Their presentations highlighted the university’s strength in translating fundamental research into innovations with measurable human impact.
BrilliantStrings Therapeutics: Redefining Tissue Repair
Founded out of the lab of Professor Jeffrey Ruberti, BrilliantStrings Therapeutics has transformed decades of Northeastern research in extracellular-matrix mechanochemistry into a new frontier for regenerative medicine. The company’s flagship technology, Complete Human Collagen (CHC™), is a first-in-class mechano-therapeutic biomaterial designed to rapidly repair injured or degenerated connective tissues, including the rotator cuff, meniscus, ACL, and Achilles tendon.
Unlike traditional collagen products that rely on partial or animal-derived proteins, CHC™ replicates the structure and function of full-length human collagen. The company’s sustained-delivery system targets the injury site directly and non-invasively, accelerating recovery and addressing one of orthopedics’ largest unmet clinical needs.
BrilliantStrings’ platform is supported by an 11-patent portfolio and led by an experienced team combining medical, scientific, and regulatory expertise. Its first commercial target in rotator cuff degeneration represents a multibillion-dollar global market with limited effective treatment options.
pacDNA: Delivering Precision Gene Therapies
Northeastern spinout pacDNA is advancing the frontier of genetic medicine through its proprietary Brushield™ platform. Developed by Professor Ke Zhang and led by CEO Carl LeBel, PhD, pacDNA’s technology chemically conjugates a bottle-brush polymer to oligonucleotide drugs, dramatically improving delivery, safety, and durability.
This innovation solves a delivery problem, enabling therapeutic molecules to get to the target cells without triggering immune responses or degrading too rapidly. The Brushield conjugate enhances biodistribution to hard-to-reach tissues and prolongs the drug’s half-life, enabling smaller doses and longer-lasting effects.
pacDNA’s lead program targets Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), a chronic and painful skin disease marked by inflammation and recurrent lesions. By silencing the mRNA of key inflammatory cytokines, the company’s therapy could deliver the first durable, gene-based treatment for HS—a field with virtually no direct competitors.
Building Momentum Across the TTVC Network
For TTVC members and participating universities, there is an ongoing commitment to build bridges between research and commercialization that extends beyond the Venturium Showcases. Through shared insights, joint programming, and cross-institutional mentorship, TTVC helps universities turn academic discoveries into investable opportunities.
In the past three years, Northeastern has funded $260 million in research, launched 19 new spinouts, and helped its ventures raise $194 million in external funding. Events like Venturium amplify that progress by placing Northeastern’s founders directly in front of investors who can accelerate their journey from lab bench to marketplace.
“Venturium has proven to be a catalyst for connection,” said Hemphill. “It goes beyond a single pitch, focusing on building lasting relationships that fuel the entire innovation ecosystem.”
Looking Ahead: Expanding Access and Opportunity
As the TTVC collaboration continues to grow, future Venturium events will explore specialized themes, niche showcases, and investor-driven formats to expand visibility for academic entrepreneurs. Plans are underway for upcoming sessions.
To learn more about Northeastern’s Venture Support Programs and upcoming events, visit cri.northeastern.edu.