George Shultz Innovation Fund

The George Shultz Innovation Fund is a seed fund designed to support early-stage ventures with high commercial viability and significant impact potential. The fund targets projects from the University of Chicago, Argonne National Lab, Fermilab, or Marine Biological Laboratory that have committed teams, strong evidence of market need, and clear plans for using the investment to achieve milestones and attract further funding. Successful applicants typically have achieved significant technical milestones such as identifying lead drug candidates, completing initial prototypes for devices, or releasing MVPs to initial customers for software projects. The fund seeks technologies that are demonstrably better than existing solutions, with value propositions validated by end customers, and where the funded work will likely lead to outside funding, customers, or other commercial engagement.