The University of Tulsa and Hurricane Ventures have announced an investment in BioReact, an artificial intelligence and analytics platform powering modern bioprocess development and optimization. The funding will be used to accelerate go-to-market efforts and expand BioReact’s product capabilities
Launched in April 2023, Hurricane Ventures invests in early-stage companies with strategic connections to the university. The fund leverages the university’s knowledge network and resources to drive success across its portfolio. Through the Collins College of Business and Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Hurricane Ventures advances UTulsa’s innovation ecosystem and drives economic growth across the region.
BioReact
BioReact provides a unified system where teams can bring together data from multiple sources into a structured foundation. Scientists working with bioreactors – specialized containers where cells are grown to develop medicines and vaccines – typically spend four to five hours manually organizing data from devices, spreadsheets and lab notebooks before they can analyze results.
BioReact lets scientists upload data from disparate sources and automatically align datasets, visualizing results in seconds. The platform’s AI analyzes parameters like temperature, pH and nutrient concentrations to identify optimal growth conditions that improve yields, reduce costs and shorten development cycles. The platform requires no coding expertise and has applications across industries like biopharma, industrial biotech and synthetic biology.
“The support from The University of Tulsa and Hurricane Ventures allows us to accelerate development of software that genuinely serves scientists. Beyond the capital, access to UTulsa’s exceptional biotech talent gives us a unique advantage in refining the product alongside real scientific expertise, ensuring BioReact continues to deliver meaningful, practical improvements for teams running complex bioprocesses,” said Mitchell Castetter, CEO and co-founder.
Castetter has spent more than a decade in biotech sales at Beckman Coulter and Cytena. His co-founder Joanna Lipinski, Ph.D., brings over 20 years of experience spanning high-tech and biotech, with a career focused on building advanced software and data platforms that power modern scientific research.
“Hurricane Ventures was created to support groundbreaking companies like BioReact. We are excited to back founders Mitchell and Joanna as they modernize bioprocess development and help scientists work more efficiently,” said Chris Wright, assistant vice president and leader of UTulsa’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
BioReact is the latest company to receive support from Hurricane Ventures, bringing the total number of investments to 12.
“BioReact is the kind of innovation Hurricane Ventures was built to support. We’re thrilled to back this team as they modernize the bioprocess workflow and ultimately help accelerate the development of pharmaceuticals and other critical products,” said Connor Sitton, director of Hurricane Ventures.
About Hurricane Ventures
Hurricane Ventures is a collaborative venture between FortySix Capital LLC and The University of Tulsa. Hurricane Ventures invests in early-stage, high-growth companies led by UTulsa students, employees, alumni and strategic partners. Leveraging the university’s resources and alumni network, Hurricane Ventures aims to support visionary founders in launching and scaling new ventures. The fund embraces a sector-agnostic approach while prioritizing the sectors where the university has demonstrated expertise. For more information, please visit hurricanevc.com