Knight Campus Startup Penderia Receives $1.7 Million Grant

The Knight Campus spinout company Penderia Technologies has received a $1.74M SBIR Phase II Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award will enable the team to further develop its implantable wireless sensor technology, licensed from the University of Oregon..

Three people standing shoulder to shoulder in a business office
Members of the Penderia Technologies team (L to R): Michael McGeehan, Keat Ghee Ong, and Salil Karipott.

Co-founded in 2020 by Knight Campus Professor Keat Ghee Ong, UO Vice President and Robert and Leona DeArmond Executive Director Bob Guldberg, research associate Salil Karipott, and Ken Gall from Duke University, the company is an orthopedic implant technology startup aiming to use real-time data to better monitor injury and healing progress. Ong now serves as Penderia Chief Technology Officer and Karipott as Chief Science Officer. Other core members include CEO Stephen Laffoon, Chief Research Officer Michael McGeehan and Director of Engineering Fraser Sanderson.

“We’re incredibly grateful to our research and development team and to our many supporters for the initial successes we’ve enjoyed,” Ong said. “Their backing enables our team to focus on commercializing our research and refining the innovative products Penderia will soon be known for.”

Penderia has also received funds from the UO Foundation’s new venture fund, Launch Oregon and successfully completed its first investor round, quickly surpassing their fundraising goal. The team is one of the first tenants in the Knight Campus’ Papé Family Innovation Center, which offers a mix of meeting spaces, wet lab benches, procedure rooms and other resources that researchers need to translate scientific discoveries into practical applications. A second center offering leaseable modules and more flexible spaces for different kinds of startups, will be housed in Knight Campus Building 2, which is currently under construction and due to open in early 2026. 

Pointing to resources such as Launch Oregon, the Papé Family Innovation Center and other funding mechanisms for small businesses, Guldberg said a regional innovation network was emerging.

"Together, we are putting together the pieces that will comprise a West Coast innovation archipelago that extends from San Diego to San Francisco, to Eugene, Portland and Seattle," Guldberg said.