UL Ventures

UL Ventures is the corporate venture investment and acceleration arm of UL Solutions, the Northbrook, Illinois-based global independent safety science company that has championed safety, security and sustainability for more than 120 years. Founded in 2017 by Simin Zhou, who also serves as UL Solutions' Global Head of Strategy, Development and Sustainability, the fund partners with entrepreneurs to foster innovation in emerging technologies and new markets that align with UL's mission. It backs early-stage digital and technology companies across healthcare, retail, manufacturing, supply chain, the built environment, energy and automotive sectors, looking for businesses whose products advance safety, security and sustainability and that can benefit from UL's deep technical expertise, testing capabilities and global customer network, typically as a strategic co-investor. Zhou and her team review close to 1,000 startups each year through conferences, networking and outreach, ultimately investing in only around 1% of the companies they meet, a highly selective approach that has produced a portfolio of roughly 21 investments. Notable portfolio companies include the healthcare-analytics startup KenSci; SkySpecs, which provides autonomous drone-based predictive maintenance and inspection for wind farms and raised an $8 million Series B alongside Statkraft Ventures and Capital Midwest; and Resilinc, a cognitive supply-chain risk-management platform that combines public-domain data with supplier intelligence to help customers manage disruptions. By pairing capital with UL's testing capabilities, technical expertise and global customer network, UL Ventures backs founders whose technologies advance safety, security and sustainability across critical industries.