The Wake Forest Technology Development Program, also known as the Catalyst Fund, is a collaborative partnership between Wake Forest University Health Sciences and Pappas Capital. The partnership was established to accelerate the development of innovative life science technologies at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, a nationally-recognized academic medical center in Winston-Salem, NC. As manager of the Catalyst Fund, Pappas Capital helps identify faculty inventions that have significant clinical and commercial potential, work with inventors to devise focused project plans, and then allocate capital to fund those plans. The aim is to accelerate the timeline for attracting licensing and risk-sharing partnerships, private sector investment, and/or complementary grant or sponsored research funding.

The Catalyst Fund was launched with a $15 million commitment to support 25 to 30 novel technologies over a four- to five-year period. While the basic model is focused on pre-license, pre-company formation translational-stage technologies, the Catalyst Fund also has the flexibility to make seed investments in its technology start-ups. Examples of projects funded by the Catalyst Fund are listed below: