ARCH Development Corporation-University of Chicago. The ARCH Development Corporation is a wholly owned not-for-profit affiliate of the University of Chicago. It was formed in 1986 to commercialize research results from the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory. ARCH split into two organizations in 1995, ARCH Venture Partner and ARCH Development Corporation. ARCH Venture is a self-sufficient venture capital organization with more than $140 million under management. ARCH Development has become the licensing and new-business development arm of the University of Chicago.

ARCH works closely with innovations from the University's divisions of biological, physical, and social sciences. From 1986-1995, ARCH started 18 companies, signed several licenses, and generated in excess of $20 million from licensing and equity returns. In 1994 and 1995, ARCH achieved two simultaneous and important landmarks: it broke even and became cash-flow positive (IRI, 1998).