Key Takeaways
- • The University of Chicago's Polsky Center announced eight 2026 Polsky Founders' Fund Fellowship (PF3) recipients, each eligible to receive up to $24,000 in SAFE funding to support full-time venture development.
- • Funding is structured as Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFE) paid in installments over one year, with quarterly coaching from the Polsky Center as a core benefit beyond capital.
- • Portfolio includes medtech (surgical instrumentation), defense-tech (military debriefing automation), and enterprise AI (hiring intelligence), demonstrating diversified sector exposure across the eight-company cohort.
- • Fellowship eligibility requires graduating UChicago students (undergraduate or graduate), full-time venture commitment, incorporated business status, and demonstrated traction—establishing institutional rigor in pre-seed venture selection.
- • Lead ventures highlighted include Revela Surgical (Revelascope surgical retractor for complex procedures), Haldune (institutional knowledge automation for high-stakes teams), and The Dev Difference (AI-driven first-round hiring interviews).
Summary
The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago has announced the 2026 cohort of the Polsky Founders' Fund Fellowship (PF3), a pre-seed funding and mentorship program designed to support graduating students pursuing full-time venture development. Eight fellows were selected from the university's undergraduate and graduate programs, each receiving access to up to $24,000 in SAFE financing paired with ongoing operational support.
The funding mechanism reflects institutional venture capital structures: capital is deployed via Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFE), a standard instrument in early-stage venture investing that defers valuation until a future funding round. Disbursements occur in installments throughout a twelve-month period, aligning cash deployment with operational milestones. Beyond capital, fellows receive structured quarterly coaching sessions with Polsky Center advisors, a coaching cadence common among university-affiliated accelerators and designed to provide tactical guidance during the critical post-launch phase.
Fellowship selection criteria establish meaningful qualification thresholds. Applicants must be graduating students from UChicago's undergraduate or graduate programs, demonstrate readiness to commit at least full-time effort to their ventures, maintain incorporated business status, and exhibit credible early-stage traction. This screening approach balances entrepreneurial ambition with operational maturity, targeting ventures beyond pure ideation but below Series A readiness.
The 2026 cohort spans multiple sectors with notable medtech and enterprise software emphasis. Revela Surgical (founder Marta Majcherska-Agrawal, PhD '26) is developing Revelascope, a videoscopic surgical retractor integrating real-time visualization and LED lighting while preserving tactile surgical feedback—a device targeting complex procedures including nipple-sparing mastectomies. Haldune (Sawiros Abebe, College '26) automates institutional knowledge capture by converting military after-action review debriefings into searchable repositories for high-stakes operational teams. The Dev Difference (Jolene Bernagene, MBA '26) applies AI to first-round hiring workflows through curated, multilayered interview automation. This sector diversity reduces cohort concentration risk while positioning the program across healthcare, defense, and enterprise technology verticals.
The PF3 program represents institutional venture capital infrastructure embedded within university entrepreneurship ecosystems, providing early-stage founder support at the critical transition point between academic completion and venture scaling.
The funding mechanism reflects institutional venture capital structures: capital is deployed via Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFE), a standard instrument in early-stage venture investing that defers valuation until a future funding round. Disbursements occur in installments throughout a twelve-month period, aligning cash deployment with operational milestones. Beyond capital, fellows receive structured quarterly coaching sessions with Polsky Center advisors, a coaching cadence common among university-affiliated accelerators and designed to provide tactical guidance during the critical post-launch phase.
Fellowship selection criteria establish meaningful qualification thresholds. Applicants must be graduating students from UChicago's undergraduate or graduate programs, demonstrate readiness to commit at least full-time effort to their ventures, maintain incorporated business status, and exhibit credible early-stage traction. This screening approach balances entrepreneurial ambition with operational maturity, targeting ventures beyond pure ideation but below Series A readiness.
The 2026 cohort spans multiple sectors with notable medtech and enterprise software emphasis. Revela Surgical (founder Marta Majcherska-Agrawal, PhD '26) is developing Revelascope, a videoscopic surgical retractor integrating real-time visualization and LED lighting while preserving tactile surgical feedback—a device targeting complex procedures including nipple-sparing mastectomies. Haldune (Sawiros Abebe, College '26) automates institutional knowledge capture by converting military after-action review debriefings into searchable repositories for high-stakes operational teams. The Dev Difference (Jolene Bernagene, MBA '26) applies AI to first-round hiring workflows through curated, multilayered interview automation. This sector diversity reduces cohort concentration risk while positioning the program across healthcare, defense, and enterprise technology verticals.
The PF3 program represents institutional venture capital infrastructure embedded within university entrepreneurship ecosystems, providing early-stage founder support at the critical transition point between academic completion and venture scaling.
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