Pioneering Deep Tech Institute

Founder-aligned deep-tech incubator. Concept to MVP in 12–18 months. No IP capture. Multi-anchor by design.

PDTI is a Utah 501(c)(3) deep-tech incubator and accelerator. We take deep-tech ideas from early feasibility through MVP through initial commercialization, founder-aligned, with a modest product-linked stake to sustain the institute's exempt activities.

We do not capture intellectual property. Founders keep their companies. We provide shared facilities, synergistic infrastructure, targeted capital, and experienced legal and regulatory support - the operating layer that takes a working prototype and turns it into a company. Our gate is selectivity: every project we take has a clear community-benefit multiplier.

PDTI is multi-anchor by design. The model isn't a single product — it's the repeatable architecture for getting deep-tech ideas to working MVPs at speed, founder-aligned, without the equity-grab capture pattern of conventional accelerators. The first anchor proves the model. The next anchors prove repeatability.

Portfolio

The four anchors

PDTI is multi-anchor by design. Each anchor proves the model in a different deep-tech domain. Anchor 1 is shipped; the next anchors follow the same operating playbook.

EmberGraph Intel

Provenance-first graph intelligence for litigation, alternative-data signal analysis, and compliance.

Shipped April 2026

FPV drone goggles + image-sensing system

Custom optics with image sensor and light sensor stack, onboard processing, low-latency display for drone operators.

In development

Point-of-care medical devices

Bedside diagnostic platforms. First program: urinary biomarker correlation for early CKD detection.

On roadmap

Mechatronics + AR with computer vision

Robotics and mixed-reality interfaces for industrial and medical applications.

Queued

Board-signed · 2025-12-28

Mission

We believe inventors building societally beneficial and commercially viable deep tech should have access to capital, a place to build, and benefit the most from their hard work. Pioneering Deep Tech Institute (PDTI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organized for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes. We incubate and accelerate deep-technology ventures by providing shared facilities and synergistic infrastructure, targeted capital, and experienced legal and regulatory support to advance projects from early feasibility through MVP and initial commercialization. Our model is explicitly founder-aligned: we do not capture intellectual property, and we structure PDTI participation through a modest, product-linked stake designed to sustain and expand the organization's exempt activities. We are selective in how we apply our resources and only focus on projects with a clear community-benefit multiplier. In parallel, we conduct and sponsor select scholarly research and publications. We are a platform for developing and delivering expert-led educational programs so practitioners, policymakers, and the public can better understand and govern emerging technologies.

Adopted by Board Resolution Exhibit C, signed 2025-12-28. Verbatim. Supersedes prior mission statements adopted by the Board.

Five values

Integrity Truthful claims, clean data provenance, lawful conduct, fair dealing.
Builder Ownership Builders retain IP and meaningful upside. Capital expands opportunity rather than concentrate control.
Public Benefit We prioritize projects with measurable community-level benefit.
Scientific Rigor Disciplined engineering, evidence, and reproducibility beat hype.
Stewardship Shared infrastructure, relationships, and resources are managed responsibly and reinvested to expand capacity.

Three program lines

How PDTI works

PDTI's mission names three program lines. The current emphasis is the incubator/accelerator. Research and Education are operationalized in parallel and expand as the institute scales.

Incubator / Accelerator

Take deep-tech ideas from early feasibility through MVP through initial commercialization in 12–18 months. Founder-aligned. No IP capture. Modest product-linked stake. Selectivity gate: every project has a clear community-benefit multiplier.

Active — anchor 1 shipped April 2026

Research & Publications

Conduct and sponsor scholarly research, including projects that are high-impact but difficult to fund through conventional channels. First active program: urinary collagen IV / eGFR correlation methodology for early CKD detection.

Active — manuscript in submission

Education

Develop and deliver expert-led educational programs so practitioners, policymakers, and the public can better understand and govern emerging technologies. Long-form analysis, expert-interview series, sanitized case studies, accessible explainers.

Active — Substack launching May 2026

The structural differentiator

What founder-aligned actually means

Every conventional accelerator captures equity and often IP at terms that benefit the accelerator over the founder. PDTI is built the other way.

Conventional accelerator

Captures equity (typically 7–15%)
Often captures or licenses IP rights
Generalist; low selectivity gate
Operating costs externalized to the founder

PDTI founder-aligned

No IP capture — founders keep ownership
Modest product-linked stake to sustain exempt activities
Selectivity gate: clear community-benefit multiplier
Operating layer provided: facilities, capital, legal/regulatory

The operating consequence: a deep-tech founder with a working prototype and the right community-benefit profile can graduate through PDTI to a working MVP without forfeiting ownership of what they built.

2022 → today

Our story

Pioneering Deep Tech Institute was founded as Utah Research Institute (URI) in 2022 — a Utah 501(c)(3) nonprofit established to support deep-technology research and education. URI received its 501(c)(3) determination in June 2022.

From 2023 through 2025, URI conducted research, developed methodology, and built the team and capability that would underwrite the multi-anchor incubator model. In December 2025 the Board adopted the current mission, organizational structure, and public name; the state-level name change took effect at the same time. IRS confirmation of the name change is pending; under the original EIN, all records remain continuous.

The first anchor portfolio company, EmberGraph Intel, shipped in April 2026 as the operating proof of the multi-anchor model. The next anchors — FPV drone goggles with integrated image-sensing system, point-of-care medical devices, and mechatronics + AR with computer vision — follow the same playbook.

2022

URI founded

Jun 2022

501(c)(3) granted

2023–2025

Research & methodology

Dec 2025

Multi-anchor model adopted; renamed PDTI

Apr 2026

Anchor 1 shipped: EmberGraph Intel

2026+

Anchors 2–4 in development

Anchor 1 build · EmberGraph Intel · 6 weeks · March–April 2026

6

Weeks build

$200

API costs

1,895

Tests passing

8

Team, unpaid

Shipped on the PDTI operating model. The proof of the multi-anchor playbook — repeatable, founder-aligned, no IP capture.

Utah 501(c)(3) nonprofit

Governance & leadership

PDTI is governed by a Board of Directors with active oversight of mission alignment, financial stewardship, and program-level decisions.

Andrew Piskadlo

CEO & President · Director, EmberGraph Intel

Nick Witham, PhD

Chief Technology Officer & Vice President · Co-founder

Michael Greenwald

Secretary · Co-founder

501(c)(3) since June 2022

EIN available on request

Form 990 available on request

Conflict-of-interest policy on file

Pioneering Deep Tech Institute is a Utah 501(c)(3) nonprofit organized for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes. PDTI was founded in 2022 as Utah Research Institute (URI) and received its 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS in June 2022. The state-level name change to Pioneering Deep Tech Institute was effective December 2025. IRS confirmation of the name change is pending; under the original EIN, all records remain continuous and in good standing.

Direct inquiries to info@PioneeringDeep.Tech.

Where to next

Pick your path

Routes by intent. Whether you're building, partnering, governing, or reading.

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