Mines Venture Fund II to invest $10M in university-affiliated tech startups with State of Colorado financial commitment

Mines Venture Fund II, Colorado School of Mines’ seed-funding platform, will invest $10 million in tech startups founded by alumni, faculty and students. The funding includes a $5 million commitment from the State of Colorado.

“Our partnership with the state reinforces what Mines does best,” said Brian Winkelbauer, president and CEO of the Mines Foundation. “Innovation thrives through Mines’ hands-on student experiences and through the new ideas and solutions coming from our faculty’s research activities.  Thanks to the $5 million match from the state, coupled with our commitment to commercialization, Mines Venture Fund II will help foster more Mines-affiliated startups that will keep innovation building here in Colorado.”

Mines Venture Fund II will provide early-stage companies with capital, operational expertise and connections throughout powerful academic and commercialization networks.

“The venture fund will accelerate and grow the impact Mines has in the world, especially at a time when industry and our nation are looking for new tools, processes and commercial solutions for needs and opportunities in energy, critical minerals, AI and quantum technologies, health and space exploration,” said Mines President Paul C. Johnson.

Managing Director Ed Messman said the venture fund is interested in investing in deep tech, which creates breakthroughs in fundamental scientific and engineering challenges that create lasting value and hard-to-replicate intellectual property.

“The world has seen fundamental scientific breakthroughs in the past decade that now turn deep tech lab experiments into viable startup opportunities,” Messman said. “Mines has built a world-class innovation ecosystem to encourage broad commercialization. We have tightly coupled the venture fund with university commercialization initiatives, expanding that culture of entrepreneurship across the entire Mines community.” 

Mines Venture Fund I launched in 2024 and invested in four seed-stage companies. The university established Mines Venture Fund II last fall to incorporate the state funding, including a commitment from the Colorado Venture Capital Authority, which makes investments in venture capital funds in support of Colorado startups.

A portion of Mines Venture Fund II profits will be reinvested in the university, creating a permanent capital loop. That means every successful startup helps support the next wave of innovative companies.

“You can feel the excitement about Mines’ growing role as a central player in Colorado’s innovation economy,” Messman said. “We are investing in Mines’ boldest ideas and unlocking massive opportunities in the deep tech space.”

Mines Venture Fund II aims to invest in about 40 companies over the next four years. 

Updates on Mines Venture Fund I investments

GelSana Therapeutics, Inc. (gelsanatherapeutics.com) was Mines Venture Fund I’s first investment, receiving $250,000. Founder and Mines associate professor Melissa Krebs invented a wound care gel that can speed up healing and provide sustained drug delivery over time. In 2025, the company was selected from a pool of 1,500 applicants for the national MedTech Innovators Competition. GelSana is on the cusp of commercializing the product.

AndrenaM, Inc. (andrenam.com) raised $10 million in just 36 hours to fund its real-time underwater monitoring network. The AI-driven sonar technology could revolutionize naval defense, port security and environmental protection. Mechanical engineering alumni Matej Cernosek ’18, MS ’19 and Alex Chu ’18, founded the company in 2024. They received $155,000 from Mines Venture Fund I.

Sam Seeton ’16 and David Rhine founded Infinite Outdoors (infiniteoutdoorsusa.com) in 2020 to expand access to more than a million acres of private and landlocked public land while giving owners control over their properties. In 2025, the company launched Access Granted to open access to landlocked public areas. The platform has 25,000 members, and revenues grew by 62 percent from 2024 to 2005. The company received $99,977 from Mines Venture Fund 1.

XtremeX Mining Technology Inc. is building a first-of-its-kind hybrid drilling rig designed for faster, safer and more sustainable drilling. The technology could reshape how companies explore for battery and precious metals. The company recently raised $11 million of Series-A funding ahead of a six-week test run at Ivanhoe’s Arizona mineral mine site. They received $125,000 from Mines Venture Fund 1.