# National Science Foundation

> National Science Foundation is a VC fund backing Biotechnology. See 2,076 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Alexandria, United States
- Total investments: 2,076
- Last investment: Aug 2026
- Lead investor: 95%
- Fund size: $1.5M
- Last fund: Jun 2016
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-science-foundation
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/NSFSBIR
- Website: https://www.nsf.gov/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/US.NSF

National Science Foundation is a VC fund in Alexandria focused on Biotechnology and Health Care. The National Science Foundation supports research and education in science and engineering through grants and non-dilutive funding programs. It offers financial support to startups developing science and technology innovations, particularly through early-stage research and development efforts.Through America's Seed Fund, authorized underthe Small Business Innovation Research program, the foundation provides resources to mitigate technical risks and advance commercially viable technologies. Funding spans a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines and is aimed at fostering innovation and long-term impact in both academia and industry.The foundation manages a substantial annual budget to sustain fundamental research and expand educational opportunities in the sciences.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for National Science Foundation. Shizune tracks 23 team members at National Science Foundation. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/national-science-foundation?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 83 | 4% |
| Health Care | 76 | 4% |
| Education | 72 | 3% |
| Medical | 47 | 2% |
| Software | 41 | 2% |

243 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grant | 401 | 19% |
| Seed | 8 | 0% |
| Pre-Seed | 5 | 0% |
| Funding Round | 3 | 0% |
| Series B | 2 | 0% |

7 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 395 | 19% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 0% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Florence Hudson | NSF Panelist / Reviewer | 0 | — |
| Rick Rashid | Member | 0 | — |
| Amy Northcutt | Chief Information Officer and Chief Privacy Officer | 0 | — |
| Christian Theriault | Grant Reviewer - NSF SBIR/STTR Program \| Div. of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) | 3 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/christian-theriault |
| Cora B. Marrett | Acting Director | 0 | — |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Opal Therapeutics | Opal Therapeutics is building a uterine organoid-based discovery platform to address critical gaps in reproductive health R&D. Conditions like endometriosis and fibroids affect over 100 million women worldwide, yet there are few effective therapies and no cures. A major barrier has been reliance on rodent models, which fail to capture thehormonal, cellular, and immune complexity of the human uterus, leading to poor clinical translation. Rodents don’t even have a menstrual cycle. Opal collects menstrual blood and uterine biopsies from diverse donors to generate a biobank of uterine organoids and assembloids that model human tissue function and disease. These 3D cultures retain key cell types and disease phenotypes and are assayed for morphology, cytokines, and gene expression. This platform supports high-resolution disease modeling, tox screening, and non-hormonal drug screening, offering a scalable and human-specific alternative to animal testing in women’s health. Our goal is to close the translational gap and accelerate therapeutic discovery in historically neglected gynecologic disorders. | $1.3M | Grant | Aug 06, 2026 | https://www.opaltherapeutics.com |
| Life Seal Vascular | Life Seal Vascular provides sealing technologies for endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms. | $1.3M | Grant | Aug 06, 2026 | https://www.lifesealvascular.com/ |
| PaveX | PaveX is an AI-powered infrastructure technology company that helps communities monitor and manage road conditions. | $305K | Grant | Aug 04, 2026 | https://pavex.ai |
| MelliCell | MelliCell develops technology that studies and uses fat cells to find new treatments for chronic diseases. The company focuses on creating fat cells in the lab to better understand how these cells affect health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer. It uses a system called M3 technology to produce mature human fat cells that serve asmodels for medical research. These models help identify how fat cells release substances that may be useful for creating new treatments. The company works with other organizations to test and develop its technology for future medical use. MelliCell’s team includes scientists and advisors who study how fat cells can be used in medicine and surgery. The company continues to research and prepare new drug candidates for testing in clinical trials. | $1.3M | Grant | Jul 31, 2026 | https://www.mellicell.com |
| EELI Technology | EELI Technology Inc., a Silicon Valley–based critical minerals technology company, enables lithium production from sources once considered impossible to mine economically —cheaper, faster, electrified. | $2M | Pre-Seed | Jul 21, 2026 | https://x.com/eelitechnology |
| University of Puerto Rico | The University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in Arecibo is recognized for academic excellence in an extensive selection of undergraduate degrees and transfer programs. From Business and Nursing to Elementary Education and Veterinary Technology, UPR has a wide selection of academics to meet the needs o its students. Support services are also available suchas academic advising, counseling, and tutoring. To be considered for admissions to UPR, applicants must have graduated from high school and be able to submit standardized test scores (CEEB or SAT). There is an application fee to apply. Many resources exist for financial aid at UPR such as grants, loans, scholarships, and work-study. Students who need help paying for tuition should apply in order to find out what sources they may qualify for. | $9M | Grant | Jul 20, 2026 | https://x.com/rcmupr |
| QuantumCT | QuantumCT accelerates quantum technology research, industry collaboration, and workforce development for practical applications. | $15M | Grant | Jul 14, 2026 | https://x.com/CTquantum |
| NSF Seafood Engine | The NSF Seafood Engine in New England breaks down bottlenecks in the seafood supply chain by using solutions from the region's world-class technology sector. | $15M | Grant | Jul 14, 2026 | https://seafoodengine.org/ |
| Desna Therapeutics | Desna Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing therapies based on HepTol, a cell-targeted messenger RNA lipid nanoparticle platform designed to induce antigen-specific immune tolerance for autoimmune and allergic diseases. |  | Grant | Jul 13, 2026 | https://desnatherapeutics.com |
| Sealor | Sealor develops a nature-based subsurface barrier technology that mineralizes porous coastal soils to stop groundwater-driven flooding, stabilize aging seawalls, and protect coastal infrastructure with minimal disruption. Its beachhead market is South Florida seawall rehabilitation, with a broader vision to become a leading platform for subsurfacecoastal resilience. | $1.2M | Grant | Jul 01, 2026 | https://www.sealor.com |

10 of 2,076 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [National Institutes of Health](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/national-institutes-of-health) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- Small Business Innovation Research — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- US Department of Energy — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [NSF Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nsf-small-business-innovation-research-small-business-technology-transfer-sbir-sttr) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- National Cancer Institute — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does National Science Foundation invest in?

National Science Foundation invests primarily in Biotechnology, Health Care and Education startups, most often at Grant and Seed stage. Most of the 2,076 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact National Science Foundation?

Public channels for National Science Foundation include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at National Science Foundation?

The team at National Science Foundation includes Florence Hudson (NSF Panelist / Reviewer), Rick Rashid (Member) and Amy Northcutt (Chief Information Officer and Chief Privacy Officer), among 23 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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