Q3 2025 Investment Report

Entrepreneurs in the Southern Tier region continued to raise money in an uncertain funding environment. There are some usual funding events in this report, but what might also be interesting to readers is what isn’t included. While we are aware of additional funding activity in the region, some transactions have not yet been publicly disclosed and therefore are not reflected here.

It is normal for news of funding events to take a little while to come out, which is one reason we publish these reports three months after the end of each quarter. However, sometimes there still isn’t public disclosure, and Q3 is just such a quarter. When independent sources report on the funding, we do update our archives, which you can find here. Please enjoy this report but perhaps come back later to find the interesting fundings we couldn’t yet publish in this report.  

Thank you for providing these leads and for your support of entrepreneurs in our region. We encourage you to reach out to us through our contact page with any tips, corrections, or comments, including colleagues you’d like us to add to our mailing list. Your input is invaluable! 
Best regards,   

Brad Treat   

Program Director, Southern Tier Startup Alliance 

Investment in the Southern Tier will be distributed on a quarterly basis to highlight the significant startup investment activity in the Southern Tier. Note: while some information is made publicly available in real time, certain fundraising activities may be reported later, leading to potential fluctuations beyond the reporting timeframe. $20,000 is the threshold for determining which funding events to include. 

Grants  

• Anova Biomedical, headquartered in Ithaca, received $298,400 of grant funding from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases on July 1, 2025. Read more about Anova Biomedical’s grant.  
• Gallox Semiconductors, headquartered in Ithaca, joined Activate Global as a part of its Activate Fellowship program on August 19, 2025, and received a total of $200,000 in funding. Read more about Gallox’s fellowship. 
• Natrion, headquartered in Binghamton, received a $1.3M grant from New York Power Authority on July 29, 2025. Learn more about Natrion’s grant. 
• Persista Bio, headquartered in Ithaca, received a $2.1M grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases on September 23, 2025. Read more about Persista Bio’s grant.  

• RETRN Bio, headquartered in Ithaca, joined Activate Global as a part of its Activate Fellowship program on August 19, 2025, and received a total of $200,000 in funding. Read more about RETRN Bio’s fellowship. 

Total: $4,098,400 

Investments 

• Conamix, headquartered in Ithaca, raised $2M of venture funding from undisclosed investors on July 25, 2025. Learn more about Conamix’s funding here.  

• Natrion, headquartered in Ithaca, raised $1.5M of Series 2 seed funding from LG Technology Ventures and New York Ventures in approximately August 2025. Learn more about Natrion’s funding here. 

• Persista Bio, headquartered in Ithaca, closed on $3.5 million of an undisclosed targeted amount of seed funding on September 23, 2025. The funds will be used to accelerate large-animal milestones and advance development of the human system prototype. Read more about Persista Bio’s funding here.  

• RETRN Bio, headquartered in Ithaca, raised an estimated $1M of pre-seed funding from Launch NY and other undisclosed investors in September 2025. Read more about RETRN Bio’s funding here. 

• Ursa Space, headquartered in Ithaca, raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Sumitomo Corporation of Americas on August 20, 2025. The transaction was supported by $5M of debt financing. Learn more about Ursa Space’s funding here.  

Total: $13,000,000 

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) 

• Heat Inverse, headquartered in Ithaca, received an additional $499,999 from the National Science Foundation to supplement their SBIR Phase II award on September 15, 2025. Read more about Heat Inverse’s grant here. 

• REEgen, headquartered in Ithaca, received $1.11M of grant funding from U. S. National Science Foundation as part of its Phase II on September 4, 2025. Read more about REEgen’s grant here.  

Total: $1,609,999   

Acquisitions 

• FOSAI, headquartered in Ithaca, was acquired by Pasteur Labs for an undisclosed amount on August 21, 2025. Read more about the acquisition of FOSAI. 

Total: undisclosed 

Investment in the Southern Tier will be distributed on a quarterly basis to highlight the significant startup investment activity in the Southern Tier. Note: while some information is made publicly available in real time, certain fundraising activities may be reported later, leading to potential fluctuations beyond the reporting timeframe. $20,000 is the threshold for determining which funding events to include.