Innovation only matters if it reaches the communities it is designed to serve. From intensifying wildfires across California to a tightening funding landscape for founders, our shared systems are being tested.
These intersecting challenges demand more than short-term fixes—they require coordinated, long-term solutions that connect science, capital, and community.
For over three decades, Larta Institute has worked to ensure science and technology serve the public good. In 2025, Larta supported 300 enterprises through 10 specialized commercialization programs, helping mobilize more than $40 billion in follow-on funding across climate resilience, health, food systems, and sustainable infrastructure.
This report reflects that work in action, bridging national commercialization programs, global partnerships like Global Bridge, and place-based initiatives like Venture Fellows and Heal.LA to translate innovation into lasting impact.
10 ventures advanced solutions across energy systems, sustainable materials, and urban resilience, with a strong focus on pilot readiness and real-world deployment.
14 companies progressed solutions across digital health, diagnostics, and care delivery, focused on improving access and outcomes in underserved communities across Los Angeles.
300 companies were supported through Larta’s federal programs, advancing science-driven innovations from early-stage research toward commercialization and deployment.
Larta’s Venture Fellows program helped Ouros refine its commercialization strategy for wildfire-affected regions. This momentum helped Ouros secure $445,000 in non-dilutive funding—including a Carbontech Bridge Award—accelerating prototype deployment in climate-exposed communities.
Larta began supporting InventWood in 2018, providing the market intelligence needed to commercialize its technology. InventWood has since secured over $50 million in funding and is currently constructing its first commercial manufacturing facility.
Larta’s Heal.LA program helped Evanesc Therapeutics refine its commercialization roadmap and investor narrative. Consequently, Evanesc secured a competitive NIH SBIR Phase I award, validating both the scientific promise and commercial readiness of its platform.
Our Anchor Founders: California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), the State of California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, Edison International, SoCalGas, Gilead Foundation, MÁS Fund, and the L.A. Department of Water and Power
Strategic Collaborators: Avenida Advisors, BioscienceLA, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity, AltaMed, LA County Department of Public Works, LA County Chief Sustainability Office, Include Ventures, Loyola Marymount University, Metrolink, Los Angeles Food Policy Council, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Aligned Climate Capital, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, SoLa Impact, The Collidescope Foundation, USC MESH, Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (IFLI), BioLabs at The Lundquist Institute, Center for RNA Biology & Therapeutics, City of Hope, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai, UCLA Technology Development Group, Hoag Hospital, California State University, Los Angeles, California NanoSystems Institute
Our Mentors & Advisors: The 125+ industry veterans, Larta’s Principal Advisors and external resource, who provided thousands of hours of one-on-one and collective guidance to our founders.
Our Community Labs Steering Committees: Members are drawn from organizations and individuals across the country, who have given their time and expertise to screen applications, provide valuable counsel and connections, and share top-notch content with participants.
Our Venture Fellows Steering Committee Members
• Patrick Atwater, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Daniel Torres Balauro, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
• Nick Caton, SoLa Impact
• David Choi, Loyola Marymount University
• Lisa Collichio, Metrolink
• Andrew Eil, Climate Change Policy, Markets, and Technology Domain Expert
• Taj Ahmad Eldridge, Include Ventures
• Ali Frazzini, LA County Chief Sustainability Office
• Eric Lee, Align
• Dan Thorman, The Collidescope Foundation
• Alba Velasquez, Los Angeles Food Policy Council
• Kecia Washington, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
• Rohit Shukla, Larta Institute
• Gunjan Siroya, Larta Institute
Our Heal.LA Steering Committee Members
• Camilo Ansarah-Sobrinho, USC MESH
• Michel Azoulay, Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation
• Lindsay Bourgeois, BioLabs at the Lundquist
• Daniela Castanotto, Center for RNA Biology & Therapeutics & City of Hope
• Stephen Cheung, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation & World
Trade Center Los Angeles
• Dr. Jhaimy Fernandez, Lead, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center & AltaMed Health Services
• Stephanie Hsieh, Bioscience LA
• Monica Jain, Wavemaker 360
• Nikki Lin, California NanoSystems Institute
• Rubayath Mohsen, The Lundquist Institute
• Naman Shah, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
• Mark Wisniewski, UCLA Technology Development Group
• Howard Xu, California State University, Los Angeles
• Rohit Shukla, Larta Institute
• Gunjan Siroya, Larta Institute
The Larta Board: For its continued guidance and support through our pivots and transitions. Thank you, Caprice Young (chair), Tim Cooley, Elliot Gordon, Armando Infanzon, Shezad Rokerya.
Larta owes a debt of gratitude to our first board chairman, the late Robert (Bob) Ashley, who passed away in January 2025. He worked as an advisor and then chairman from Larta’s inception in 1993. Till the end, he was a tireless champion of our work and a guide and inspiration to the Board and our staff alike.
The Larta Team: For their relentless commitment to our work every day. Special thanks to the Larta Leadership Team – Rohit Shukla, Carlos Gutierrez, Judy Hsieh, and Gunjan Siroya.
The list of individuals who helped us in many ways, small and large, is long and varied.
Here are a few we call out specifically for their on-going commitment and support: Stephen Cheung, Patrick Church, Wouter Debeyne, Miki Esposito, Jhaimy Fernandez, Katie Frost, Hubert Goffinet, Isabel Casillas Guzman, Stephanie Hsieh, Keith Hoffman, Min-Yi Shih, Mark Wisniewski, and Dan Witzling.
Across sectors, the need for solutions is clear. The opportunity now is to accelerate how those solutions are deployed, scaled, and sustained in the communities they are designed to serve.
Larta works across partners, funders, and institutions to translate innovation into real- world impact. This work is inherently collaborative and requires aligned effort across ecosystems.
We invite those committed to advancing science and technology for the public good to engage with us, whether through partnership, investment, or implementation.
Together, we can move from progress to impact at scale.
