Startup Focused on Mimicking Human Organs Wins $2,000 in Seed Funding

Jan. 15, 2025

A student startup focused on commercializing platforms that mimic human organs won $2,000 at the Seed Funding Pitch Competition. 

Humimic Biosystems, which formed in 2023 as a spinoff company from U of A's Mechanobiology and Soft Materials Laboratory, is focused on developing models that mimic human organs — including the heart, lungs and brain — for wide-ranging applications, according to Lexi Applequist, the company's co-founder and CEO. 

Applequist said that by offering unique, reliable, user-friendly benchtop organ models, the technology can be used to model diseases for drug screening in the pharmaceutical industry, treatment testing in the medical device industry, and disease progression research in academia. 

Overseen by the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Seed Pitch competition allows students to pitch their ideas for a chance at funding in several categories: customer discovery, prototype development, market research, legal and design. Pitches are capped at 90 seconds, can't include slides and are followed by a brief Q&A session with judges.  

"Past winners include student teams focused on brain cancer treatment and developing platforms to improve the experience of international students. This year's field also included diverse startups across a range of industries," said Maddy Stricklen, OEI's program manager for competitions. 

"The judges really focused on companies that demonstrated the potential for a meaningful impact and clearly communicated how they plan to make that happen," Stricklen said. 

"It's inspiring to see such a variety of ideas being supported and recognized." 

The Seed Fund competition allows students to pitch their ideas for a chance at funding in several categories: customer discovery, prototype development, market research, legal and design. Pitches are capped at 90 seconds, can't include slides and are followed by a brief Q&A session with judges.  

Contacts

Brandon Howard, communications manager

Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

479-418-4803, bjhoward@uark.edu

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