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Mesa Quantum, a 51�Թ��� spinout and leader in quantum sensing, recently announced $3.7 million in seed funding and a $1.9 million grant from SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force. Both investments are fueling the company’s drive toward commercializing chip-scale quantum sensors for multiple applications including next-generation position, navigation and timing solutions.��

Sristy Agrawal

Sitting in Mesa Quantum's new, airy headquarters in 51�Թ���, co-founder and CEO Sristy Agrawal (, , 51�Թ��� Physics), is clearly exhilarated—if also a bit jet lagged. She’s been traveling around the U.S., to Europe, and next to Asia, attending conferences and talking to governments about her company’s tiny technology that’s offering big solutions. In those conversations, said Agrawal, “We want to make sure that our roadmap and our product development ensures we’re not just developing a cool technology but also solving a real problem.”����

One of the issues Mesa Quantum aims to solve is current vulnerabilities in the aging U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) which is often the sole source of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services. Accurate GPS and PNT are integral in our everyday lives, from mapping and surveying to stock trading, power grids and emergency response. But the satellite-based signals that GPS relies on can be inconsistent and are unencrypted.����

Improperly configured, corrupted or hacked GPS receivers and signals have wreaked havoc recently on aviation and government operations, disrupting large sectors of the global economy. “As we’ve seen in the last few years, GPS is not resilient at all,” said Agrawal. “You can buy something from Amazon for $20 which can jam the GPS in an entire neighborhood.” ��

Mesa Quantum is addressing the issues of PNT resiliency, as well as filling certain GPS accessibility gaps, by designing and manufacturing next-gen quantum sensors with chip-scale atomic clocks. “One approach to solving that problem, which is very promising, is if we could build really tiny atomic clocks that we could integrate in our hardware,” said Agrawal. “So we wouldn’t have to rely completely on such a weak signal that is jammable. So that is what we’re trying to do.”��

Timing is everything��

Agrawal and her team are transitioning state-of-the-art lab research from 51�Թ��� into practical and deployable quantum solutions. The tech originates from Svenja Knappe’s lab (51�Թ��� Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering, NIST) where, for over 20 years, her work has focused on developing miniaturized quantum sensors and systems. 51�Թ��� has a robust history of quantum innovators spanning 60 years, including four Nobel laureates. Mesa Quantum is licensing that tech from the university, with the help of Venture Partners at 51�Թ���, and working to make components smaller and mass producible while driving down cost to make their sensors accessible across multiple applications. They hope to have a working prototype in 2026, and also worked with Venture Partners to launch the company.������

Quantum sensors are essentially highly accurate measurement devices that collect data at the subatomic level by detecting the most minute changes in time, gravity, temperature, motion, magnetic and electrical fields and more. That kind of precision, in Mesa Quantum’s smaller, more cost-effective package could be tailored for a wide array of uses including medical diagnostics and biomedical research, environmental monitoring and, of course, positioning, navigation and timing.����

In adapting Knappe’s novel atomic clock, Mesa Quantum is building sensors that can measure and detect changes in the environment around them to signal where they are in the world, where they need to go and to keep them in sync with other systems. Agrawal ultimately sees a place for their sensors anywhere highly accurate timekeeping is currently needed (like data centers and autonomous vehicles); where GPS may be weak, like in dense urban areas, and in challenging environments where GPS can’t currently go—underground, underwater and in secure military operations. They want their quantum sensors to “meet the market where it is,” she said.��

Agrawal’s path to studying quantum science started back in high school where she first started to learn scientific concepts. Before, she never felt like a great student, but that sparked curiosity in her, and it remains so today. “Every day I had like 10 questions for the teacher which must have been very annoying,” said Agrawal, “but that’s when I really got interested in science.” Being open and curious have been key to Agrawal’s success. She grew up in a small town in a rural state in India where she’d go to a café to access the internet, or she’d stay at home reading H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine” or watching “Stephen Hawking’s Universe.” Agrawal also values having the willingness to make mistakes and to continue learning. “It’s not the end of the world if something doesn’t work,” she said. “But I would regret not trying.” ��

When working toward her PhD in quantum information science, Agrawal was looking at how to use quantum technologies to transform lives. “I got exposed to a lot of incredible research being done at JILA and NIST in quantum sensing,” she said, “And I got the bug for the impact that quantum technologies could have to actually solve real world challenges.” At the same time, Agrawal didn’t have a particular concept in mind. “Because I wasn’t married to a particular idea to begin with, I think that gave me a lot of flexibility,” said Agrawal. “I got quite excited about chip-scale atomic clocks right away because I’d been reading about the GPS problem.” Her next logical step was to direct her knowledge of the quantum realm and a passion for solutions into a startup. But how?��

Homing in on a winning innovation��

When considering entrepreneurship, Agrawal turned first to Venture Partners at 51�Թ���, the commercialization arm of the university, and began working with Justin Stitzlein, a venture analyst at Venture Partners. The two met for coffee and Stitzlein was excited to learn about her background in quantum physics. “Then we provided her with a curated list of potential quantum technologies, she looked through that list and selected one that she thought seemed interesting and that might have a market opportunity,” he said. “Through her research and just a few conversations, Sristy really conceptualized this gap in the market. I don’t think that everyone can do that; she’s such an expansive thinker.”
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But what is "commercialization?"

The path to commercialization—also known as "research translation" or "tech transfer"—can be challenging, so Venture Partners unites��industry partners, entrepreneurs and investors to help��researchers, inventors and creators at the University of Colorado bring their groundbreaking discoveries into the marketplace.

Explore the Path to Commercialization

In late 2022, Agrawal participated in the Venture Partners Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop, offered as part of the NSF I-Corps™ Hub: West Region, where Mesa Quantum was conceived. The program helps researchers build a foundation for impactful businesses by identifying market needs for their breakthrough technologies with a robust process of customer discovery, according to Emily Vogt, director of venture development. “[Sristy’s] chip scale atomic clock technology had broad applications across different industries,” said Vogt. “Her customer discovery journey through multiple I-Corps programs helped her find the shortest and most compelling path to market, while also highlighting different uses of the technology for future growth."

During the Starting Blocks program, Stitzlein encouraged Agrawal to home in on the technology’s potential applications and to develop a business model. She then started developing that commercial strategy and meeting with potential customers. “I've never seen someone hit the road as hard as she did,” said Stitzlein.����

During that time, Agrawal dove into several other Venture Partners’ programs including the 2023 Lab Venture Challenge (where Mesa Quantum was awarded $125,000) and 2024 New Venture Challenge Deep Tech Competition (where Mesa Quantum was a finalist). She also participated in New Venture Launch, a Leeds School of Business class for cross-disciplinary teams, individual founders and entrepreneur-focused students. During that time, Agrawal also connected with her co-founder and Mesa Quantum’s chief technology officer, Wale Lawal (Harvard, Rice University, U.S. Air Force Academy). ����

From when she first began working with Venture Partners, Agrawal felt tremendous backing. “I could brainstorm everything with them,” she said. Venture Partners helped Agrawal move seamlessly through 51�Թ���’s many opportunities and resources for campus innovators to develop new ventures. Before, as an academic, Agrawal said, she didn’t have access to daily conversations about becoming an entrepreneur like someone at a business school might.

That resonates with Bryn Rees, associate vice chancellor for innovation and partnerships at 51�Թ���. “This is definitely a cross-campus collaboration, an example of a founder really leveraging all the different things that this campus has to offer,” he said. “Breaking down siloes is great.” Rees would like to see more founders like Sristy—“who’s got that commitment and willingness to try things”—bringing their knowledge and passion into the entrepreneurial arena.����

Rees sees Agrawal and Mesa Quantum as the tip of the iceberg in terms of potential ventures spinning out of the university. “The vast majority of folks don’t know where to start, or don’t have the resources, or don’t have the bandwidth to do that,” he said. “What I think is so exciting about the university now is that for most of the iceberg that’s underwater, for those people who would love to do this if they have support, there are trainings, there are mentors, there’s funding, there’s access to a path to success.”��

“Venture Partners created that space for me where I could have those discussions,” Agrawal said. “I cannot overstate how important the community has been in this journey. Mesa Quantum wouldn’t have happened without that support.”��
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