Powering Sacramento's Deep Tech Innovation Pipeline
Sacramento's premier deep tech venture studio, connecting bold researchers with entrepreneurs to turn complex lab breakthroughs into high-impact businesses through SBIR readiness.
The Challenge
Cities investing in deep tech innovation face a critical bottleneck: connecting the right university researchers with the right entrepreneurs to commercialize federally-funded discoveries. Sacramento's Office of Innovation and Economic Development identified two core barriers:
Researcher Discovery at Scale
Manually identifying and outreaching to hundreds of faculty and graduate students across multiple institutions is a slow, resource-intensive process that yields low response rates and misses qualified candidates.
Researcher-Entrepreneur Matching
Even when researchers are identified, pairing them with the right entrepreneurs requires understanding each researcher's published work, IP potential, and commercial viability, a process that traditionally takes months.
The Solution: Powering Innovation with ALTITUT
To accelerate its deep tech pipeline, the City of Sacramento deployed ALTITUT's Researcher Match platform (match.altitut.ai), an AI-powered system that automates the entire researcher-to-entrepreneur matching workflow:
Automated Researcher Discovery & Profiling
- Bulk ingestion of researchers via Google Scholar profiles, CSV uploads, or manual entry
- AI-powered paper selection ranked by freshness and citation count to surface the most relevant work
- Auto-generated research summaries and visual one-page infographics for each researcher
- Email-based researcher review with 24-hour auto-publish to streamline approvals
Automated Researcher Ingestion Dashboard
Entrepreneur Discovery Feed & Smart Matching
- An interactive discovery feed that lets entrepreneurs browse research by interest area
- Smart matching algorithms that pair researchers with complementary entrepreneurs based on skills and domain
- Automated notifications to Tech Transfer Offices and Innovation Offices when matches form
- Team formation tools to help matched pairs build out their SBIR application teams
Matches and Connections Feed
SBIR Studio Program Infrastructure
- Essential seed capital to get selected teams started on commercialization
- Structured curriculum simplifying IP, business models, and federal grant requirements
- Dedicated network of deep tech investors and industry mentors
- Hands-on support to move technology from lab bench to the global marketplace
Visual Research Infographic One-Pager
The Impact: Advancing Deep Tech from Lab to Market
Within 72 hours of deploying the Researcher Match platform, Sacramento's innovation office had outreached 382 researchers across local university campuses, a process that would have taken months through traditional channels.
Over 95 researchers responded expressing interest in participating in the SBIR Studio program, a response rate that dramatically exceeded expectations and validated the platform's AI-powered infographic approach to researcher engagement.
40 researcher-entrepreneur teams formed through the platform's matching capabilities, each beginning the rigorous process of translating laboratory discoveries into viable SBIR proposals.
Within the first two months of the program launch, 2 SBIR proposals were already in active preparation, a pace that positions Sacramento as a model for how cities can leverage technology to accelerate their innovation ecosystems.
Whether innovators are validating early discoveries or preparing to scale, the ALTITUT SBIR Studio provides the specialized deep tech investor network and hands-on infrastructure needed to successfully commercialize scientific research right here in the City of Sacramento.
Ready to Power Your City's Innovation Pipeline?
Discover how ALTITUT's Researcher Match platform can connect your region's researchers with entrepreneurs, accelerating SBIR readiness and deep tech commercialization.