Harper Court Ventures

Overview

Harper Court Ventures is an early-stage deep tech venture fund dedicated to accelerating the commercialization of groundbreaking technologies emerging from the University of Chicago ecosystem. The fund focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage companies leveraging breakthrough research and innovation originating from UChicago labs, the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation's programs, faculty and student ventures, and the extensive UChicago alumni network. The fund targets companies in high-impact sectors, including quantum computing, life sciences, energy, and artificial intelligence. Harper Court Ventures seeks to back visionary entrepreneurs with deep domain expertise and unique, often patented, technology poised to create or lead new categories in large markets. The fund plans to back approximately 40 startups over the next three years. Investors in the fund include the UChicago Endowment and several members of the University's Board of Trustees. The fund has already made initial investments in three promising UChicago-related companies: Flow Medical, SimCare AI, and Beacon. Flow Medical is developing a next-generation catheter-based therapy to treat acute pulmonary embolism. SimCare AI is developing a safe and scalable platform for clinical skills training and evaluation using realistic AI-generated patient conversations. Beacon is reimagining real-time illness prevention with technology that eliminates viruses, bacteria, and molds from air and surfaces.

Investment Focus

• Deep domain expertise
• Unique, often patented technology
• Potential to create or lead new categories in large markets

Portfolio Companies