The Caltech Seed Fund

The Caltech Seed Fund

Invests in early-stage Caltech and JPL spinout companies, helping them move toward commercialization readiness.

The Caltech Seed Fund (CSF) is an internal venture fund operated by the California Institute of Technology's Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships (OTTCP) to support the commercialization of technologies developed at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which Caltech manages. The fund deploys approximately $1.5 million per year over a five-to-six-year investment horizon, making four to six investments annually. All investments are structured as SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) instruments; there is no follow-on investing from CSF beyond the initial SAFE. This is an equity investment vehicle, not a grant. In FY2025, OTTCP supported eight new Caltech spinout startups and recorded 132 invention disclosures.

Eligibility is strictly limited to companies commercializing technology developed at Caltech or JPL. Investments range from $100,000 to $500,000 per company. The fund targets companies that can achieve milestones sufficient to attract a priced round within 12 to 18 months of investment. Evaluation criteria include market potential, the quality and coachability of the management team, exit potential and timing, IP position and competitive advantage, and the realism of the proposed milestone budget. CSF co-invests with Wilson Hill Ventures (WHF), an independent institutional fund exclusively partnered with CSF, on a significant number of deals. Covered technology areas span novel therapeutics, medical devices and digital health, diagnostic and biomarker platforms, clean energy, silicon photonics, machine learning and AI, computer vision, and robotics.

Companies seeking funding may be invited by a member of CSF's Faculty Innovation and Advisory Committee (FIAC) Executive Committee or may request to pitch directly. Pitch deck pre-review is encouraged before a formal presentation. The process involves a pitch to the Executive Committee (FXC) with OTTCP licensing staff and Wilson Hill Fund representatives present, followed by a diligence checklist and investment memo reviewed by FIAC. CSF does not sign NDAs during pitch or diligence; FIAC members are bound by a separate Caltech confidentiality agreement. Contact Case Cortese, Director for Innovation, New Ventures & Entrepreneurship (casecortese@caltech.edu), to initiate the process.