Forge Nano, an advanced materials company and University of Colorado Boulder startup, has reached a $1.6 billion valuation, making it CU Boulder’s 11th “unicorn,” or a privately held company with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
Bryn Rees, CU Boulder’s Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Partnerships, said reaching unicorn status can happen when a company raises a significant round of funding or at a transition point, such as an acquisition or going public.
“(Unicorn companies) create a significant amount of jobs and employment, and they attract capital to the state,” Rees said. ” … They bring this breakthrough innovation from an academic project, more of an intellectual exploration, into real-world impact.”…