UA Startup Codelucida Receives a $750,000 Grant from the National Science Foundation
September 8, 2015
Multiple Supporting Elements of the Ecosystem Come Together for Success
Codelucida, a start-up company created from University of Arizona (UA) and University of Cergy-Pontoise, France research has been awarded a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase-2 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The company previously completed a $150,000 six-month Phase-1 grant which made it eligible to apply for the competitive Phase-2 grant. The two-year grant is non-dilutive federal funding meant to further assist the company in its commercialization efforts.
Codelucida is developing a disruptive error-correction technology for next-generation solid-state drives (SSD). The enabling technology addresses a major need in the growing market as SSDs face major issues in terms of reliability due to the growing demands for higher storage capacity at reduced cost, and increased speed and endurance for emerging storage applications. The technology will have a major impact on consumer devices such as laptops and tablets as well as data centers and cloud-based storage systems which are all migrating to the use of SSDs over conventional hard disk drives to enable faster speeds and reduced power usage.
The foundation of Codelucida’s technology was jointly developed during the doctoral studies of co-founder and CEO Shiva Planjery, Ph.D, along with his co-founders and doctoral advisors, Bane Vasic, Ph.D., UA Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and David Declercq, Ph.D., Professor at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, France.
To protect their invention and license the technology, the co-founders worked with Tech Launch Arizona, the UA unit that commercializes inventions stemming from university research.
Currently, the company is housed at the Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI) within the UA Tech Park and is going through the AzCI Mentored Launch program where Dr. Planjery is leading the company’s commercialization efforts. Through the program, Codelucida receives individualized coaching and participates in workshops, seminars and networking events.
AzCI also directly supported Codelucida in its prototyping efforts by providing a field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) board, which is used to implement and test the company’s proprietary error-correction algorithms.
By sharing results from its initial hardware prototypes, the company is seeing increased customer traction among SSD market leaders and has begun to receive specific proprietary requirements through mutual NDAs. The company is also seeking to raise capital to accelerate its product development and commercialization efforts.
“We are thrilled to be receiving the NSF Phase-2 grant which not only endorses the merits of our technology but also confirms that our product addresses a strong market need,” said Dr. Planjery. “We would not have reached this stage without the multiple support groups of the entrepreneurial ecosystem right here in Tucson.”
Tech Launch Arizona creates social and economic impact through bringing the inventions of the UA from the lab to the world. The UA unit builds connections between the talents of faculty and researchers and the experience of entrepreneurs and investors. It cultivates these conversations, fostering ideas that start in the lab, and grows them into new products and thriving businesses that benefit society.
Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI) fosters technology startups, emerging, and mature companies to develop and commercialize their ideas, inventions and next evolution of product. AzCI provides facilities including office, wet and dry lab space, and a structured business development program called Mentored Launch, which offers a program of workshops, seminars and networking opportunities. Participating companies also receive individual coaching from mentors experienced in technology innovation, product development and business management. AzCI is located at the UA Tech Park and is a component of Tech Parks Arizona, which is part of Tech Launch Arizona.
Codelucida’s did its prototyping on an FPGA board, part of the equipment provided to AzCI clients in its Prototyping Center, which was funded by the 2014 SBA Growth Accelerator Fund.
