�Ǹ�Թ�

Infleqtion, a �Ǹ�Թ� spinout and global leader in quantum technology, announced a $1.8 billion business combination with Churchill Capital Corp X and will trade under the ticker “INFQ.” Now Colorado’s tenth unicorn, Infleqtion continues to drive the state’s growing quantum hub by commercializing breakthroughs across computing, sensing, security and energy markets.

Infleqtion’s star continues to rise as Colorado’s quantum hub grows. The company spun out of CU �Ǹ�Թ� as ColdQuanta and seems to be everywhere these days, including outer space, while commercializing pioneering research to address needs across several critical markets including positioning, navigating and timing, global communication security and efficiency, resilient energy distribution, and accelerated quantum computing. 

CUbit Quantum Initiative—Entrepreneur Eva Yao discusses how the Nobel Prize-winning frequency comb technology from the lab of Jun Ye (�Ǹ�Թ� Physics, JILA, NIST) can rapidly detect very small molecules in human breath, potentially enabling early disease detection and improved patient outcomes.

TechCrunch—WHISPER Energy, a CU �Ǹ�Թ� clean energy startup, has been selected for TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200, spotlighting the world’s top early-stage companies. The recognition earns WHISPER Energy a coveted place to exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 in San Francisco—one of the industry’s premier stages for emerging innovators.

LASP—Space Dust Research & Technologies, a CU �Ǹ�Թ� startup co-founded by LASP researchers Xu Wang and Mihaly Horanyi, has been awarded one of ten NASA TechLeap Prizes in the Space Technology Payload Challenge for their Electron Beam Dust Mitigation (EBDM) system. It was selected from a record-breaking field of more than 200 applicants to receive up to $500,000 and the opportunity to launch on a test flight next summer.

Nine years ago, a group of researchers from the �Ǹ�Թ� Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering launched a pioneering medical device startup Point Designs to commercialize prosthetic technology. Today, those same researchers are announcing the company has entered an agreement of impending acquisition with Hanger, Inc.

The Conversation—Over the past several months, universities have lost more than $11 billion in funding. Research into cancer, farming solutions and climate resiliency are just a few of the many projects nationally that have seen cuts. The Conversation asked Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation at the �Ǹ�Թ�, to explain how these cuts and freezes are impacting the university and Colorado’s local economy.

Activate—Three CU �Ǹ�Թ�-based innovators and their startups have joined Activate's Cohort 2025. Elliot Strand and Payton Goodrich, co-founders of PAGE Technologies, and Nadia Jorgenson, co-founder of OsmoPure Technologies.

Venture Partners capped off its third Ascent Deep Tech Accelerator with the 2025 Ascent Deep Tech Community Showcase, where research-based startup teams pitched innovations to an audience of investors, entrepreneurs and fellow researchers. The showcase featured ventures developing breakthrough solutions in health, energy, aerospace and more.

Fierce Biotech—Illumina is expanding its proteomics research capabilities with a $425 million plan to acquire SomaLogic, including its protein analysis platforms and certified lab services business. Founded by CU �Ǹ�Թ� Professor Larry Gold in 2000, SomaLogic revolutionized protein measurement by developing a faster, cost-effective process to monitor the vast number of proteins in the human body.