2ndF

2ndF is a privately held firm founded by Bill Spruill focused on partnering with and enabling early-stage founders in the applied sciences.

About

Through a bespoke advisory approach, we help exceptional Founders build enduring businesses and realize generational outcomes for them, their team, and their investors.

Research Commercialization

Helping technologies get out of the lab and into the real world.

Capital Formation

Getting the right dollars to the right Founders.

Founder Advisory

Championing ownership, autonomy, and outcomes.

Who We Partner With

We believe that the lack of capital focused on applied science founders presents a meaningful opportunity, and we spend our time focused on Founders in the Triangle and Black Founders across the nation.

iOrganBio

iOrganBio

Scalable human cell and organoid systems for drug discovery, toxicology, and disease modeling.
Daniel Delubac
LoanWell

LoanWell

Automated loan origination software for lenders and community finance teams.
Bernard Worthy
VQ Biomedical

VQ Biomedical

Biomedical technology company building around vascular access and clinical workflow needs.
Galen Robertson
Reforge Robotics

Reforge Robotics

Robotics company developing tools for advanced manufacturing and industrial operations.
Nosa Edoimioya
Voxel Innovations

Voxel Innovations

Precision electrochemical machining for complex metal parts with demanding tolerances.
Daniel Herrington
Eden GeoPower

Eden GeoPower

Reservoir stimulation technology for geothermal, geologic hydrogen, and subsurface energy systems.
Paris Smalls

“Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world.”
Isaac Asimov

The Spotlight

Learn more about the history of the Triangle and our underlying conviction.

Explore Spotlight

Who We Are

Bill Spruill

First Speaker

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Jeff Manning

Second Speaker

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Liam King

Partner & Chief of Staff

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John Landers

Partner

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Quavoris Wellington

Analyst

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Programs We Run

Focused programming is how we scale what we do best.

University Commercialization Triangle technology transfer

The Spotlight

Applied science, university research, and Triangle company formation.

The Spotlight is 2ndF's annual publication on the Triangle's applied science ecosystem. Choose a year below to read the full publication.

2024 2025

2024

THE SPOTLIGHT

An annual look at how applied science, university research, and commercialization converge to create durable innovation in the Triangle.

History of Innovation

Research Triangle Park (RTP) was founded in 1959 as a hub for research and innovation, anchored by the academic strengths of Duke University, NC State, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Early tenants like IBM, RTI International, and Burroughs Wellcome (now GSK) established RTP's reputation as a leader in technology within both the physical and life sciences, while government institutions like the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences further reinforced its research focus.

This foundation of innovation and ambition laid the groundwork for an entrepreneurial ecosystem, inspiring spinouts, startups, and innovation-driven ventures within the region.

The Research Triangle has experienced distinct cycles driven by innovation, growth, and reinvestment. Early IPOs, such as SciQuest and Inspire Pharmaceuticals, set the stage for acquisitions like SpectraSite and Quintiles, which strengthened the region's biotech and technology footprint. Major exits, including Red Hat's acquisition and AskBio's $4 billion sale, fueled further momentum, attracting talent and capital.

This growth cycle continues today with the rise of companies from Pendo to Tune Therapeutics, showcasing the Triangle's ability to evolve, scale startups into major players, and reinvest resources into the next wave of entrepreneurship.

Present-Day Market

This evolution has been fueled, in part, by a broader transformation in the global startup ecosystem and the dramatic growth of venture capital as an asset class. With more venture dollars available, financing options for startups have expanded significantly, enabling founders to pursue more ambitious goals and scale their companies faster than ever before.

As the Triangle tech ecosystem evolved, so has entrepreneurship itself--attitudes, funding structures, and pathways to growth are remarkably different from 50 years ago. Much of this growth stems from the software sector, specifically from the rapid growth within SaaS, which has become almost synonymous with venture capital thanks to its low capital requirements, rapid scalability, and predictable recurring revenue models.

However, over the last decade, there has been a subtle yet meaningful shift toward venture dollars flowing into companies rooted in scientific and engineering breakthroughs addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges. Unlike the software sector, which often relies on existing platforms and rapid iterations, deeptech requires a different approach--one that demands long-term investments, significant technical expertise, and robust ecosystems of innovation.

This shift aligns more closely with the mentalities employed in the early days of venture capital, when funding was directed toward pioneering advancements in the industries of the future like semiconductors and biotechnology, exemplified by companies such as Fairchild Semiconductor and Genentech, which laid the groundwork for transformative industries that reshaped entire economies.

Capitalizing On the Opportunity Ahead

The Triangle is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this shift. With approximately $4 billion in annual federal research and development funding flowing through its universities and institutions, the region has established itself as a national leader in academic innovation. This drives cutting-edge research and sustains a steady pipeline of top-tier talent, as thousands of highly skilled graduates from the Triangle's universities enter the workforce each year.

State-level investments, such as those from NCInnovation, further bolster the region's capacity to translate research into impactful technologies, providing critical infrastructure and resources to accelerate commercialization efforts.

As venture capital increasingly reverts back to the transformative potential of science-driven startups, the Triangle's ecosystem is uniquely equipped to lead this new wave of technological advancement in areas like medical devices, life science tools, advanced materials, manufacturing, and agricultural technology.

Fully capitalizing on the opportunity ahead will require our ecosystem to align itself around building within deeptech and executing a focused strategy toward creating a generation of great technology businesses across the physical and life sciences.

After two years of investing in Triangle-based startups, we hold a strong conviction that the Triangle is uniquely positioned to build great companies in the applied sciences and believe focusing on deeptech startups will provide the largest ROI for our region in terms of both financial returns and ecosystem growth. We've also noticed a lack of coverage amplifying some of the Triangle's most interesting deeptech startups.

We believe elevating these founders and companies is important and have decided to spotlight 10 Triangle-based deeptech companies each year. In 2025, we'll be sitting down with founders, investors, and operators across the Triangle to dive deeper into the startups, institutions, and people that make our ecosystem so uniquely strong--stay tuned.

We're calling this list The Spotlight, which will highlight a recent win--an exit or event we view as a great example of local wealth creation--and call out ten noteworthy startups at a variety of stages, building across numerous industries, all based here in the Triangle. While we are active investors in this space, we are not investors in every company mentioned below; our goal is to highlight some of the best examples of companies building in areas where the Triangle is uniquely positioned to win.

Recent Win: Blue Force Technologies

Management: Scott Bledsoe, Joseph Murray
Acquirer: Anduril Industries

Anduril's acquisition of Blue Force Technologies marks a milestone for both the defense sector and North Carolina's technology ecosystem. For Anduril, a leader in advanced defense technologies, this acquisition enhances its capabilities in situational awareness and tracking solutions, solidifying its position as a provider of innovative technologies for defense and security applications.

This acquisition brings a new level of sophistication to Anduril's ability to create interoperable, real-time data solutions that enhance operational efficiency and safety.

For North Carolina, the deal underscores the state's growing role as a hub for dual-use technology. With a strong foundation in aerospace, engineering, and data analytics, the Triangle region has become a magnet for startups and established companies seeking to push the envelope in defense innovation.

The merger not only demonstrates the region's ability to attract high-impact investments, but also signals to the broader world that North Carolina is emerging as a critical player in the defense innovation space. This move highlights the growing synergy between defense, technology, and commercialization in the state--positioning it as a key player in shaping the future of defense innovation.

The acquisition is a great example of what gets us excited about local wealth creation. Anduril's growing presence in the Triangle will create new jobs and stimulate local investment. Blue Force's founders and team will reinvest their capital, both human and financial, into the local early-stage community.

Congrats to Scott, Joseph, and the Blue Force team.

The Spotlight 2024

Codetta Bio

Management: Jacques Corriveau, William Henley
Total Funding: $27.2mm
Local Investors: 2ndF

Codetta Bio develops advanced multi-omics biomarker measurement tools that allow for simultaneous analysis of DNA, RNA, and proteins from a single sample. Their integrated platform significantly reduces analysis time from two days to just two hours, enhancing efficiency and decision-making in research and clinical trials.

Hoofprint Biome

Management: Kathryn Polkoff, Scott Collins
Total Funding: $2.25mm
Local Investors: RTP Capital

Spun out of NC State University in 2023, Hoofprint Biome is on a mission to reduce methane emissions from cattle while improving their health, through the development of probiotics and natural enzymes.

NATRX

Management: Leonard Nelson, Nick Brady, Tad Schwendler
Total Funding: $3.4mm
Local Investors: Oval Park Capital, Front Porch Venture Partners, WIN, 2ndF, and more

Founded in 2018, NATRX is innovating within the climate technology space to ensure that coastlines are protected utilizing adaptive infrastructure. NATRX Assess is a technology-driven solution allowing landowners to identify specific risks and properly plan solutions with nature in mind.

Persistence Therapeutics

Management: Yev Brudno
Total Funding: $5.5mm
Local Investors: Jupiter BioVentures

Persistence reduces the time and cost of CAR T therapies by creating synthetic lymph nodes that are made outside the patient and then implanted using a minimally invasive procedure.

PlantSwitch

Management: Dillon Baxter, Maxime Blandin
Total Funding: $17mm
Local Investors: 2ndF

PlantSwitch offers an alternative solution to traditional plastics by using agricultural waste to create bioplastics. Their process is circular, as the bioplastics they produce are compostable, returning to the farm at the end of their lifecycle.

RedBud Labs

Management: Ricky Spero
Total Funding: $1mm
Local Investors: Venture South, Carolina Research Ventures

Redbud Labs develops advanced microfluidic technology and components for life science applications. Their NAxtract platform and Redbud Posts enable faster, more sensitive sample processing and assay automation across diagnostic markets.

Targan

Management: Ramin Karimpour
Total Funding: $90mm
Local Investors: Oval Park Capital

TARGAN provides poultry producers with technology that minimizes losses and increases efficiencies. WingScan enables a single operator to perform at the rate of over 20 operators in determining the sex of over a thousand birds in one hour.

Tree Co.

Management: Rodolphe Barrangou, Jack Wang
Total Funding: $52mm
Local Investors: None

TreeCo combines tree genetics with CRISPR genome editing to develop enhanced trees for the forestry industry, including traits such as frost and drought resistance, disease resistance, and faster growth rates.

Tune Therapeutics

Management: Charles Gersbach, Derek Jantz
Total Funding: $160mm
Local Investors: Hatteras Venture Partners, Pappas Capital

Tune Therapeutics is pioneering epigenetic editing to precisely regulate gene expression, aiming to treat complex diseases by modulating the epigenome without altering the underlying DNA sequence.

UViquity

Management: Scott Burroughs
Total Funding: $8mm
Local Investors: None

Uviquity is an innovative startup at the forefront of wide bandgap semiconductor technology and integrated photonics, driving advancements in cutting-edge deep tech solutions.

VQ Biomedical

Management: Galen Robertson
Total Funding: $1mm
Local Investors: Duke Capital Partners, WIN, 2ndF

VQ Biomedical is developing a minimally invasive central venous catheter to deliver oxygen directly into the bloodstream, addressing the challenges of current ARDS treatments. Their design improves oxygen transfer efficiency in a compact device that fits inside blood vessels.

2025

THE SPOTLIGHT

An annual look at how applied science, university research, and commercialization converge to create durable innovation in the Triangle.

The Triangle Advantage

2025 marked our third year investing in the state of North Carolina at 2ndF. Over that period, we have consistently increased our focus on applied science startups--an intentionally broad term that encompasses businesses leveraging cutting-edge science to solve big problems. We continue to affirm our belief that North Carolina is a uniquely advantaged place to build an applied science business, particularly within the Triangle.

Each year, we dedicate a meaningful portion of our time to understanding how this ecosystem functions--its strengths and weaknesses alike--and to considering what we, as an organization and as a community, can do to best capitalize on our shared resources and history. At the end of each year, we highlight one or two key components of the region's infrastructure, along with what we believe to be some of the Triangle's most interesting early-stage businesses. Last year, we examined the history of the Research Triangle and the structural choices that shaped its startup ecosystem. This year, as we continue to study the ecosystem and spotlight transformative companies, we aim to show that the Triangle's progress is not the result of isolated wins, but of a system increasingly capable of producing them again and again.

In the Triangle, the foundational inputs of our research commercialization system--the process of translating scientific research into marketable solutions--are NC State, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill. All three are top-50 research universities located within 25 to 30 miles of one another, together receiving more than $3 billion annually in federally funded research. These institutions operate long-horizon programs across engineering, life sciences, materials science, and computation, continually generating a steady stream of applied science ventures rooted in technical depth and talent. While these universities are widely recognized for their economic impact as major employers, their more enduring contribution comes from the companies they help create--and the opportunity those companies represent for long-term wealth creation.

University Commercialization

To understand why universities play such a central role in the Triangle's ecosystem--and how they came to sit at the heart of modern innovation and company formation--it is worth stepping back to the origins of university research and commercialization itself.

The modern system of university research and commercialization did not evolve gradually; it was built under crisis. During World War II, the United States faced technical challenges that markets could not price and industry could not solve on its own. Radar, communications, advanced materials, cryptography, medicine, and logistics all demanded breakthroughs that were technologically rigorous, capital-intensive, and urgent. In response, the federal government turned to universities--not as academic sanctuaries, but as applied research engines. For the first time, universities were funded to pursue purpose-built, mission-driven research, with success measured not by publication alone, but by performance.

This system was organized and formalized by Vannevar Bush, who led the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II. Bush's lasting contribution was not a single invention, but a framework--one that empowered researchers with both autonomy and funding to translate scientific advances into technologies that would shape everyday life. In 1945, he articulated this vision in Science, The Endless Frontier, emphasizing the essential role university research plays in national security and economic leadership.

When the war ended, the system did not. Federal research funding expanded significantly, and universities responded by building permanent laboratories, hiring research faculty at scale, and developing the institutional capacity to carry technical risk over long periods of time. The modern research university quickly became a foundational pillar of the nation's innovation infrastructure.

Across disciplines and decades, the pattern has remained consistent: universities operate at the front lines of discovery, taking on the earliest technical challenges and advancing ideas far enough to matter. That work creates the foundation upon which private capital and industry build, scale, and compete. In this way, universities remain the workhorses of innovation.

Regions with the Triangle's concentration of talent and research infrastructure are rare. What ultimately determines outcomes is not whether discovery occurs, but whether the surrounding institutions are structured to carry innovation across the gap from lab to company. Alignment--not invention--is the constraint.

The Future

The Triangle's university commercialization model is building on a history of billion-dollar outcomes. At UNC-Chapel Hill, AskBio translated academic gene therapy research into a company that was ultimately acquired by Bayer. At NC State, Wolfspeed--originally founded as Cree--emerged from decades of silicon carbide research and grew into a publicly traded semiconductor company employing thousands of people. At Duke, IonQ spun out of university research in trapped-ion quantum systems and went public in 2021, helping establish one of the first commercial footholds in quantum computing.

This is what successful university-driven commercialization looks like in practice. Each originated in long-running university research programs. Each required sustained public funding, patient capital, and years of technical maturation. And each generated economic impact not only through exits or public market value, but through job creation, follow-on companies, and downstream industry formation.

The Triangle's commercialization story is still being written, with these same universities producing a new generation of researchers whose work carries similar platform-level potential.

At NC State, Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou is known for his foundational role in CRISPR biology--work that helped catalyze the modern gene-editing ecosystem and continues to generate commercial spinouts and applied research programs. He has gone on to found companies with significant potential, including Locus Biosciences, TreeCo, Ancillia Biosciences, and others.

At Duke, Dr. Charles Gersbach is advancing next-generation gene editing and genome engineering technologies through his company Tune Therapeutics, while Dr. Jungsang Kim continues to push the frontier of quantum computing hardware and systems that extend well beyond first-generation platforms like IonQ.

At UNC-Chapel Hill, the ability to continue producing meaningful outcomes now depends less on any single lab and more on the institution's willingness to recruit, enable, and retain the best possible researchers. The previous era demonstrated what is achievable when world-class scientific talent is paired with institutional support and a clear path to translation. Outcomes associated with figures such as Dr. Jude Samulski, Dr. Ned Sharpless, and Drs. Nancy and Joseph Albritton were not accidents. They were the result of deliberate hiring, sustained investment, and an environment that enabled ambitious science to move beyond the lab. As that generation of innovators has transitioned out, the question is whether UNC will continue to make those same bets. The next chapter will be shaped by who the university chooses to bring in, how aggressively it supports them, and whether it remains committed to enabling research with the potential to translate into companies and long-term economic impact.

The success of the Triangle does not rely solely on world-class research; it depends on the rare transition from researcher to researcher-founder. This evolution requires far more than technical mastery. It demands humility, a high tolerance for risk, and the ability to cultivate and activate networks that extend well beyond the campus gates. These leaders should not be treated as happy accidents, but recognized for what they are: a primary engine of the ecosystem.

University commercialization matters more now than ever because the center of value creation has shifted upstream. The hardest and most valuable problems today are rooted in biology, materials, energy, computation, and measurement--domains where progress begins as research long before it resembles a product or a company. That early work happens almost entirely inside universities. At the same time, private capital markets have narrowed their appetite for foundational risk, and corporate R&D has become increasingly incremental. The result is a growing stockpile of unrealized intellectual capital within research institutions that bear the cost of discovery, while comparatively little has been invested in converting that discovery into durable companies.

That gap is not philosophical; it is economic. Given the challenges facing the university business model today, commercialization can no longer be a peripheral activity--it must be core to the university's mission and operations. Research commercialization represents one of the most asymmetric monetization opportunities in the modern economy. Institutions that resource it seriously will shape industries and anchor regional growth, while those that do not will continue exporting their breakthroughs to ecosystems willing to do the work.

The Companies

As we look at the current landscape of the Triangle ecosystem, we continue to be excited about the companies being built here.

Vulcan Elements

Local Investors: None

Vulcan Elements is developing advanced processing technologies to secure a domestic supply of critical materials and rare-earth magnets. By pairing novel chemistry with scalable industrial processes, the company targets a major strategic bottleneck in the U.S. advanced manufacturing and defense supply chain, enabling onshore production of materials essential to electrification, aerospace, and national security.

Pairwise

Local Investors: None

Pairwise is an agricultural biotechnology company applying CRISPR-based gene editing to develop improved fruit and vegetable crops with enhanced yield, shelf life, and consumer-driven traits. The company focuses on commercially viable specialty crops, translating advanced plant genetics into products that integrate seamlessly with existing agricultural supply chains.

Ramona Optics

Local Investors: None

A Duke University spinout, Ramona Optics is building next-generation microscopy systems that combine massively parallel optical hardware with scalable computational pipelines. Its platform enables high-throughput capture and analysis of cellular data at unprecedented scale, transforming rich biological imaging into actionable insight for live-cell research and discovery-driven biology.

Voxel Innovations

Local Investors: Harbright Ventures, Wolfpack Investor Network, 2ndF, Triangle Tweener Fund, RTP Angel Fund

Voxel Innovations commercializes precision electrochemical machining technology for the production of complex metal components with extreme tolerances and repeatability. The platform enables complex geometries, fine surface finishes, and material performance that are difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional subtractive manufacturing, unlocking new design freedom for aerospace, defense, and industrial applications.

DG Matrix

Local Investors: Piedmont Capital Investments

DG Matrix develops solid-state power conversion and routing systems that increase the efficiency, flexibility, and resilience of electrical infrastructure. Its technology supports next-generation energy demands across data centers, electrified transportation, and grid-scale systems, addressing a foundational constraint in modern power distribution.

Atsena Therapeutics

Local Investors: Hatteras Venture Partners

Atsena Therapeutics is developing gene therapies to treat inherited retinal diseases that cause progressive blindness. The company uses engineered viral vectors to deliver functional copies of genes directly to retinal cells, aiming to slow, stop, or potentially reverse vision loss in patients with severe, previously untreatable conditions.

iOrganBio

Local Investors: 2ndF, Cape Fear BioCapital, Duke Capital Partners

iOrganBio is building a scalable platform for the production of human cells and organoids with improved biological relevance, reproducibility and engineering control. The company aims to enable more predictive drug discovery, toxicology testing, and disease modeling by replacing animal-based systems with human-relevant biology at industrial scale.

Extellis

Local Investors: Oval Park Capital, Duke Capital Partners, Front Porch Venture Partners

A Duke University spinout, Extellis is developing high-capacity, all-weather Earth observation systems based on advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) antennas. Its platform delivers reliable, near-real-time imagery at industrial scale, supporting applications in energy, agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, and national security.

Kriya Therapeutics

Local Investors: None

Kriya Therapeutics is developing gene therapies that address disease at the genetic level by delivering corrective genes to specific tissues in the body. The company combines advanced vector design with in-house manufacturing to enable one-time treatments that can be applied across multiple diseases, rather than a single indication.

Phinite

Local Investors: Oval Park Capital, Triangle Tweener Fund, Venture South

Phinite converts livestock waste into low-carbon, regenerative fertilizer products, transforming an environmental liability into scalable agricultural inputs. The company's approach improves soil health, reduces emissions, and closes nutrient loops within modern agricultural systems.

Getting technology out of the lab and into the world.

Featured projects Official CIF website

From university labs to global impact.

We embed investors, operators, and partners inside Triangle university labs to force breakthrough science out the door — fast, sharp, and built to win.