Portal Fellowship Program

Calling All Scientist-Founders & Entrepreneurs!

What would you do if you could engineer a cell for any function, without delivery barriers? Or deliver any cargo into live cells, so your questions get answered where they happen?

The Portal Fellowship is a three-month program for scientists and founders with ideas to build next generation cell therapies. Selected applicants will design and run the experiment that defines their company, with the opportunity to work hands-on with Portal's technology and collaborate with our scientific team to build investor-ready data for "Demo Day."

What could your idea become?

• Engineer more into every cell. Deliver multiple cargoes, such as RNA, gene editors and proteins, at the same time. Design your cell beyond the limits of viral and electroporation methods.
• See what's working. Ask your cell directly by delivering probes and reagents into living cells, so you understand how your engineered cells behave.
• Scale without switching methods. The same delivery approach runs from bench research to high-throughput screening and GMP manufacturing, with point-of-care manufacturing in development.

Who should apply: Scientists, engineers and clinicians building a cell therapy company, whether you're at the first idea or already have an early startup.

What Portal Makes Possible:

Portal’s mechanical delivery platform removes many of the barriers that hold back ambitious cell biology research. With Portal, you can:

• Deliver multiple cargoes simultaneously
• Achieve high efficiency without viral vectors or harsh chemical reagents
• Scale experiments reproducibly from bench to high-throughput
• Work with sensitive primary cells that don’t tolerate conventional methods
• Deliver virtually any cargo type: RNA, proteins, gene editors, probes, impermeable small molecules or peptides, and more

We're looking for founders with bold ideas: applications that lead with the company you want to build and the experiment that proves it. If you’re looking for help sparking those ideas, you can check out our [__________] to learn more about Portal’s novel capabilities.

Grant Award

For three months, selected fellows will receive:

• A Portal Gateway, or bench space with one, plus installation and hands-on training
• Biweekly sessions with a Portal scientist
• A presentable data package at the end of the program
• The chance to present their results to investors at Demo Day in June 2027
• Access to an alumni community and introductions
• The option to lease, buy, extend or return the Gateway; fellows who continue to lease after the end of the program will receive a discount

Proposal Requirements (One Page Maximum)

1. The Big Idea What cell therapy problem are you solving, and for which patients? What would your company look like if it works?
2. Current Barriers What's stopping you today? What are you missing: equipment, lab space, scientific guidance?
3. Proposed Approach How would you use Gateway? How does getting cargo into cells fit into your approach?
4. Experimental Plan & Readouts What experiment can give a decisive result in three months? What does success look like?
5. Resources & Commitment How will you fund consumables (startup funds, a venture grant or an accelerator award)? Where and when will you run the work? Where are you on the path to building a company?

Clarity and feasibility matter. Figures are welcome but must fit within one page.

Proposals will be evaluated on:

• Innovation and potential impact
• Feasibility: Can the experiment give a clear result in 3 months?
• Commitment to building a company
• Delivery as a genuine bottleneck (is removing the delivery constraint central to the application?) 

Eligibility & Timeline

• Graduating PhD students and postdocs on the startup track, scientists who have left academia with an idea or early company, and clinicians at academic hospitals with a founder mindset
• Able to run work in Boston or the Bay Area
• Fellows should provide their own consumables budget
• Application Deadline: December 31, 2026
• Fellow Notification: [Date]
• Fellowship Start: [Date]
• Demo Day: June 2027

Next Steps:

• Learn more about Portal’s novel capabilities in the informational webinar!

• Email your one-page PDF proposal to: boost@portal.bio with the subject line: Portal to New Frontiers Submission – [Your Name]

• Got questions? Email ani@portal.bio

We’re excited to fund researchers with ambitious ideas for what becomes possible when delivery is no longer the bottleneck. Tell us what you’d do  and let us help you make it happen!

Ready to submit your proposal?

Email your one-page PDF proposal to: boost@portal.bio with the subject line: Fellowship Program Submission – [Your Name]