IU Ventures

IU Ventures is a 501(c)(3) affiliate of Indiana University focused on investing in and supporting early-stage, IU-affiliated startup companies, generating social and economic impact for the university, Indiana, and beyond. Founded in 1997 and based in Bloomington, Indiana, the organization is led by Tony Armstrong, President and CEO since 2008, and Jason Whitney, Chief Venture Officer and Executive Director, with a team of 28 members including 12 partners. IU Ventures manages three investment programs: the IU Angel Network, the $11 million IU Philanthropic Venture Fund established in 2018 as an evergreen fund, and the Innovate Indiana Fund established in 2010 and now fully invested. The firm leads rounds across pre-seed and seed stages, with checks from $100,000 to $1 million. The portfolio includes 68 companies across life sciences, health technology, enterprise software, fintech, and consumer sectors. IU Ventures focuses on Indiana University's traditional strengths in life and health sciences alongside emerging areas including engineering, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and big data analytics. The portfolio has achieved 1 IPO and 14 acquisitions. MBX Biosciences listed on NASDAQ in September 2024 at a $510 million market cap, the most notable exit. Other acquisitions include Sharpen, PrecisionHawk, Doxly, Encamp, Mentor Collective, Canopy, Probari, Diagnotes, and Qumulex. IU PhV portfolio companies include Confluence Pharmaceuticals, Nerx BioSciences, Scioto Biosciences, NuCurrent, Amplified Sciences, Boardable, MetaCX, and Monument Biosciences. The firm led a $1.9 million seed round of Adipo Therapeutics alongside VisionTech Partners and Elevate Ventures. The most recent investment was in Membershine in December 2025. IU Ventures has received the Mira Award for Investor of the Year for its commitment to investing in diverse founding teams. The organization's university affiliation gives it a direct pipeline to faculty-led spinouts, graduate student ventures, and commercialized research, creating a deal flow channel unavailable to conventional institutional funds.