Announcing Grant Round 18 Awarded Teams

Virginia Catalyst Awards $2.4 Million in Grants to Support Life Sciences in the Commonwealth
Three collaborative projects to address major unmet healthcare needs, drive economic growth in Virginia
 
RICHMOND, VA – August 13, 2025  – The Virginia Catalyst, also known as the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation (VBHRC), today announced that it has awarded $2.4 million in grants to three life and bioscience projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia through a highly-competitive Grant Round 18.
 
“The bioscience ecosystem in Virginia is vibrant, with university researchers, incubator, accelerators, mentors, and VA Bio working together to drive economic development in the Commonwealth.” said Mike Grisham, CEO of Virginia Catalyst. “The Catalyst is proud to provide an avenue of non-diluted funding for these teams to further develop their innovations into commercialization in life sciences.”
 
Through this 18th round of funding, Virginia Catalyst has awarded 72 grants totaling over $38 million, resulting in nearly $56 million in matching funds and over $660 million in follow-on funding and 450 jobs in life sciences.
 
Grant Round 18 Awarded Teams
    
Ceres Nanosciences (Manassas), University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech

• Awarded: $800,000
• “Nanotrap® SECURE (Sample Enrichment Concentration Universal RNA/DNA Extraction) Kit”

 
HTIC, Inc. (Charlottesville), University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University

• Awarded: $800,000
• “Developing a first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody for immune modulation in human diseases”

  
RIVANNA Medical, Inc. (Charlottesville), University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University

• Awarded: $800,000
• “Transforming epidural placement with precision-guided technology to enhance safety and patient satisfaction”

Read full press release here