NCInnovation Approves $6.8 Million for Eight University Projects, Expands Statewide Portfolio to $43.9 Million Across 55 Projects
New cohort reaches all five regions as funded projects show investors the path from research to market at NC IDEA’s Ecosystem Summit
By Michelle Fiscus, Senior VP & Chief Communications Officer
Wilmington, NC
November 11, 2026
The NCInnovation Board of Directors today unanimously approved $6.8 million for eight university technology projects, including a treatment for drug-resistant wound infections and roll-up solar panels for soldiers in the field. The projects span biohealth, computing, energy and climate resilience, and they support teams at seven universities across all five NCInnovation regions. The awards bring the organization’s statewide portfolio to $43.9 million across 55 projects.
The new cohort joins a portfolio already showing where this funding leads. Later today, 41 NCInnovation-supported projects from 13 universities will meet investors, industry representatives and economic development leaders at NCInnovation’s Portfolio Showcase and Investor Reception, part of NC IDEA’s 8th Annual Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Summit in Wrightsville Beach. Among them, a UNC Chapel Hill team recently leveraged its NCInnovation project into a federal ARPA-H award of up to $25 million, and a UNC Charlotte team’s water filters have passed industry-standard certifications as it scales production with a Union County manufacturer.
“With 55 projects now in our portfolio, we’re starting to see what North Carolina’s future economy looks like,” said Michelle Bolas, president and CEO of NCInnovation. “Many of the projects in today’s showcase started right where these eight teams are now. Since then, they’ve licensed technologies, formed companies and attracted follow-on funding. Our job is to help these new teams follow that same path, so more of North Carolina’s research becomes companies that grow where they start.”
“Every project we fund is an investment in North Carolina’s own research and its own communities,” said Kelly King, chair of the NCInnovation Board of Directors. “This newest group reaches every region of the state. While these teams are just getting started, the projects in the showcase show where that work can lead: companies, jobs and opportunity that stay right here.”
NCInnovation supports the stage between proof of concept and market readiness, helping researchers reduce the technical and commercial risks that can keep promising technologies from reaching the market. Depending on the technology, that work may include demonstrating reliability, replication and scale, meeting regulatory requirements and building evidence to attract customers, industry partners or private investment. In addition to non-dilutive funding, teams receive support from NCInnovation’s entrepreneurs-in-residence, commercialization guidance, industry introductions and milestone-based development planning.
Projects approved in the FY 2027-1 slate include:
- At East Carolina University, Brandon Schultz is preparing ATHEMOS for commercial launch. It is a research-backed video game that teaches middle and high school students with ADHD the organization, planning and note-taking skills they need in class.
- At Fayetteville State University, Kristen Delaney Nguyen is developing DentAware, a saliva test that lets community health centers screen patients for gum disease during routine medical visits, with no dentist on site.
- At North Carolina A&T State University, Reza Zadegan is building a standard file system for DNA data storage. Records stored in DNA can last for centuries without power, and the system lets them be found, read and updated on any vendor's equipment.
- At NC State University, Brendan O'Connor is scaling ultra-light, flexible solar modules that roll or fold into a field pack. They provide silent, fuel-free power for military units, disaster response and off-grid sites.
- At UNC Asheville, Dave Michelson is advancing DamSure. The software automatically flags dams where new development downstream has raised the risk, and it produces the emergency action plan maps dam owners are required to keep.
- At UNC Asheville, Amanda Wolfe is advancing the EnergiCide antibiotic discovery platform. It targets a bacterial enzyme that existing antibiotics leave untouched, producing new drug candidates for resistant infections. Wolfe previously completed a smaller NCInnovation-funded project that laid the groundwork for this work.
- At UNC Chapel Hill, Wubin Bai is developing a sensor that measures skin tone at the point of measurement, so pulse oximeters read accurately for every patient. Chapel Hill startup LumiVera Labs was formed to commercialize the technology.
- At UNC Charlotte, Kirill Afonin is developing a new class of antimicrobial treatment built from tiny clusters of silver held together by DNA. The first products will be gels and sprays for infected diabetic foot ulcers.
The awards followed a review of 26 full applications. Each application received four independent reviews: two from industry panelists and two from RTI International. The Programs Committee weighed reviewer scores, market potential and statewide reach before recommending the eight-project slate to the full board.
The board met at Discovery Hall on the campus of UNC Wilmington, which houses an NCInnovation Regional Research Hub within its Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. UNCW researchers have received NCInnovation support for projects including Cyber-PARK, which teaches elementary students’ online safety through games, and a neck strength assessment tool.
“Innovation rarely happens in isolation. It emerges through collaboration. It grows through partnerships,” said Aswani Volety, chancellor of UNC Wilmington. “Through the support of NCInnovation, researchers are receiving assistance at critical points in the journey from discovery to application. We are proud to host the NCInnovation Board and proud to be part of that work across our region and throughout North Carolina.”
David English, the UNC System’s Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs said, “We have talented faculty working across the state every day to improve the lives of North Carolinians through research and discovery. We’re grateful to see that work recognized and supported. It makes a genuine difference in the economy and quality of life in our state.”
“North Carolina’s First in Opportunity strategic economic development plan highlights the need to strengthen innovation pipeline programs that guide and support technologies from concept to market,” said John Hardin, Ph.D., executive director of the Office of Science, Technology & Innovation at the North Carolina Department of Commerce. “NCInnovation’s efforts help fill a key gap in that pipeline.”
NCInnovation, Inc. is a Research Triangle Park, NC-based 501(c)(3) public-private partnership designed to accelerate commercialized innovation from North Carolina’s research universities. Backed by more than $25 million in private philanthropic commitments, NCInnovation uses the interest and income from a $500 million State-funded endowment to provide non-dilutive grant funding, mentors, and support services so that North Carolina university proofs-of-concept return value to the regional communities that created them. Learn more at NCInnovation.org.