1870 Ventures

What 1870 Ventures does

1870 Ventures is a Columbus, Ohio-based venture studio founded in 2023 that identifies, funds, and actively builds companies around intellectual property generated at research institutions. The firm targets the 'valley of death' in university tech transfer, where the vast majority of disclosed inventions never reach commercial formation. Its four-stage operating model comprises origination (sourcing IP through deep institutional partnerships with universities and research hospitals), validation (a proprietary studio-admittance process), build (co-founding companies alongside experienced operators), and scale (Seed and Series A investment and support). The studio's stated focus is on digital health and health-sciences technologies with 'humanity-improving potential,' supported by a 2024 selection as a spoke in the ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub, a nationwide health-innovation network.

The studio is led by three General Partners: Joe Chinnici, Brian Zuercher, and Dave Billiter, all of whom serve as hands-on operators embedded into portfolio companies. Dave Billiter leads digital health origination and brings prior operating experience as co-founder and CEO of Deep Lens and roles at Cardinal Health and The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Rather than selling software or services, 1870 Ventures monetizes through equity ownership in the companies it builds and supports, with the explicit aim of owning larger stakes than typical VCs at the earliest stages while keeping researchers involved.

The studio differentiates through (1) a proprietary process for selecting and validating IP, (2) deep institutional relationships that provide preferential origination access, and (3) operator talent that can install commercial leadership inside newly formed companies. Go-to-market is primarily through institutional partnerships, content marketing via the company blog, team LinkedIn presence, and selective conference participation (e.g., SCOPE Summit 2024). The firm has not disclosed a fund size, portfolio company count, revenue, or external capital backing, indicating it remains in the earliest stage of studio development.

Name

1870 Ventures

Legal name

1870 Ventures

Website

https://1870ventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

1870 Ventures is a Columbus-based venture studio founded in 2023 that funds and builds companies around IP-backed digital health and life-sciences technologies sourced from research institutions, co-founding portfolio companies alongside experienced operators and supporting them through Seed and Series A rounds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Studio Services

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Miscellaneous Intermediation (52391)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Venture Studios / Company Builders (FSANAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture studio services
• IP commercialization
• Digital health ventures
• Seed stage funding
• University tech transfer

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: 1870 Ventures generates returns through equity ownership in the companies they build. As a venture studio, they invest capital and resources at the earliest stages and own significant stakes in portfolio companies. They are prepared to invest and support companies in Seed + Series A rounds.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

1870 Ventures is a venture studio that identifies, funds, and actively builds companies around IP-backed technologies with humanity-improving potential, with a focus on digital health and life sciences. The studio partners with leading research institutions to source promising intellectual property, applies a proprietary validation process to establish commercialization pathways, co-founds companies alongside experienced operators, and invests at Seed and Series A stages to bridge the 'valley of death' between university research and commercial success.

Product overview

1870 Ventures operates as a venture studio focused on creating companies around IP-backed technologies with humanity-improving potential. Rather than a single unified product, the company offers a studio model comprising origination (discovering opportunities through institutional partnerships), validation (proprietary process for studio admittance with clear commercialization pathways), building (co-founding companies with experienced entrepreneurs), and scaling (Seed + Series A investment and support). The studio's core offering is the company-building service itself, which wraps business architecture around promising intellectual property to help navigate the 'valley of death' between university research and commercial success.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Venture Studio Platform A venture studio service that identifies, funds, and actively builds companies around IP-backed technologies. The studio applies talent, time, and resources to solve earliest-stage funding, commercialization pathway, and experienced leadership challenges for university-generated intellectual property, primarily in digital health and life sciences sectors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Less than 1% of new US businesses result from university tech transfer, representing a significant market opportunity for venture studios addressing this gap
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ARPA-H Investor Catalyst HubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20241870 Ventures was selected as a 'spoke' for the Investor Catalyst Hub, a regional hub of ARPANET-H, a nationwide health innovation network launched by ARPA-H. The hub is based in the Greater Boston area and managed by VentureWell. The network aims to accelerate commercialization of groundbreaking and accessible biomedical solutions using a hub-and-spoke model designed to reach diverse organizations including Minority-Serving Institutions.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Petri: Venture builder that co-creates new companies from breakthrough science, with a strong focus on health and biotech. Directly comparable to 1870 Ventures in thesis (institutional/scientific IP) and operating model (originate → validate → build → scale).
• Redesign Health: Healthcare-focused venture studio that builds and launches companies from the ground up. Highly comparable to 1870's digital-health origination model, with the addition of an in-house operating platform and dedicated health vertical focus.
• Pioneer Square Labs: Seattle-based venture studio that ideates, validates, and launches new companies with founders. Comparable in structure (thesis-driven studio with proprietary validation process and operator co-founders) though broader in vertical scope than 1870's digital-health focus.
• Science Inc. Venture studio and operating company that builds, invests in, and scales technology businesses. Directly comparable to 1870's 'wrap business architecture around promising IP' model, with a longer operating history and broader sector mandate.
• Atomic: Venture studio that partners with entrepreneurs to build companies from the ground up, with a focus on early-ideation ventures. Closely aligned with 1870's originate-and-build model, with comparable Seed/Series A support infrastructure.
• 1517 Fund: Venture studio and fund that supports young founders building technical companies. Comparable in studio structure and early-stage focus, though 1517 leans toward individual founders vs. 1870's university-IP origination angle.
• Founders Factory: Global venture studio and accelerator that builds and scales startups with corporate partners. Comparable studio model, with deeper corporate-venture partnerships and a broader vertical mandate than 1870.
• Humble Ventures: Thesis-driven venture studio and fund that builds companies alongside operators. Comparable in studio structure and operator-led company creation, though with a different thesis focus (diverse founders vs. 1870's IP-from-institutions thesis).

Emerging players

• IndieBio: Biotech accelerator that funds and builds science-driven companies. Adjacent to 1870's model in commercializing deep-tech / life-sciences IP, with a stronger biotech (vs. digital health) focus and a program-based rather than studio-continuous model.
• StartX: Stanford-affiliated startup accelerator and founder community that supports student and faculty-led ventures. Adjacent peer given shared university-IP origination and founder-support model, though structured as an accelerator rather than a dedicated venture studio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/1870Ventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1870ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 1870 Ventures