Tech Launch Arizona

BizTUCSONOctober 21, 2025

3 minutes read

Powering University of Arizona Tech Startups to Market Since 2012

By Christy Krueger

Bringing University of Arizona-invented technologies to the world so they can better people’s lives is the heart of Tech Launch Arizona.

It’s impact in this region is unmistakable: a $1.6 billion economic impact, 600+ patents issued, 3,000+ invention disclosures, supporting 2,500 jobs and more.

Launched in 2012, TLA was a game-changing effort to equalize the UA’s commercialization success with its world-class research, and in more than a decade, it has helped to build this region into a Silicon Desert where startup tech companies can grow and thrive.

TLA helped launch 13 startups in FY2025. Add to that, UA broke its own record for inventions, generating 324 invention disclosures, up from 307 in FY 2024.

Connecting with start-ups happens in every direction, said Douglas Hockstad, associate VP of Tech Launch Arizona. “Primarily, license managers discover inventions or they disclose to us because they know us. At the start, we’ll determine their interest in starting a company and is the technology appropriate for the invention.”

Hockstad, who has been with TLA since 2013, explained that TLA assesses the marketability, obtains patents, and finds an industry that wants to commercialize, usually through a start-up. TLA also has an entire network of partners with expertise in domains, community collaborations, mentoring and more.

One of TLA’s latest success stories is NeuroID, which was acquired last year by Experian. NeuroID was founded in 2015 by Joseph Valacich, a professor of management information systems at UA’s Eller College of Management and Jeff Jenkins, a then-doctoral student at Eller, now a professor at Brigham Young University. It was based on their research into mouse-cursor tracking and other human-computer interaction.

“It’s like a lie detector that can determine how confident people are with forms on websites or determine risk that there’s something wrong with their answers,” Hockstad said. An example, he noted, is when someone is applying for a loan, NeuroID allows for better screening.

ProxyBio by Branch Therapeutics is another TLA startup that just launched this year. Its technology helps identify the most effective individualized drug therapies for patients with colorectal cancers. Hockstad said TLA was able to get $3.5-$4 million in investment to move it forward.

Yet another company, iCRx, backed by a decade of research, aims to deliver accurate, refractive error correction in one minute. “Everyone can relate to going to the eye doctor. This uses laser technology and in 60 seconds it gives your accurate prescription for eyeglasses,” Hockstad said.

Funding for TLA comes from various sources. “Part is by UA, part comes from the royalty stream of licenses – about $10 million per year, and we also have philanthropy endeavors raising investment funds.”

Goals are the same for TLA each year – to grow engagement with UA faculty, to see more inventions discovered and to get them out in the world to impact people’s lives. Hockstad considers UA and TLA to be major contributors to attracting technology businesses here. And he feels the region is truly becoming a Silicon Desert–a diverse technology center with growth, especially in optics.

“With a top-tier research university, the Tucson area has long been a hotbed of innovation,” he said. “However, in the last decade or so, the university put resources and people behind the effort to move innovation forward, out of the lab and into the market.. Combined with Tucson’s attractiveness – environment, cost of living and available workforce from the university, as well as the growth and focus on the Tech Parks to support tech industries, it was a natural evolution.”

Education and workforce development are key for this region. “There are other regions that have pieces of what we have. UA is a world-class research institution. You have to have that, and the physical environment is conducive to people wanting to be here. Above all, are the people involved.”

Hockstad reinforced the importance of growing the ecosystem. “We need large companies here to help grow the economy. The more we have, the more likely we are to see mid-size start-ups and growth in the number of students who graduate and stay here.”

Going forward, he expects Tucson to be a nationally recognized center of entrepreneurship and innovation. “We’ll see incredible things.”