About
Senior judgment. Practical implementation.
Forged Catalyst Group works with institutions accountable for outcomes: deployed capital, commercialized technology, and companies that survive the next stage.
Positioning
Connect strategy to the decisions and work ahead.
Capital strategy, federal program positioning, partnership development, and commercialization need to work together.
Engagements produce written plans, decision requirements, partner strategies, and implementation priorities for leadership, boards, funders, and investment teams.
$250M+
Funding and contracts led as PI or Co-PI
10+
Venture funds and capital vehicles structured or supported
60+
Countries reached through global innovation programs
$173M
Private capital raised by companies in supported programs
Heath Naquin
Founder & Managing Principal
Heath Naquin is employed by the University City Science Center. Forged Catalyst Group is an independent entity, and its engagements are separate from that employment.
The Operator
Experience across institutions, programs, and investment platforms.
Founder-led. Principal-delivered. Built for institutional mandates. Engagements draw on 25+ years across venture capital, government innovation policy, and global ecosystem development to connect strategy with practical implementation.
Heath’s work spans Capital Readiness at the University City Science Center, commercialization advisory as an NIH RADx Core Expert through VentureWell, and university technology-transfer work within the EIF-managed TTA Turkey program. As Training Expert / Key Expert 2 in the TTGV, Bpifrance, and VentureWell consortium, he helped connect technology-transfer offices with market validation and investment readiness. That experience informs how engagements link funding priorities, partnerships, and day-to-day implementation.
Selected institutions across prior leadership, advisory work, and programs
- National Science Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- U.S. Small Business Administration
- U.S. Department of State
- European Investment Fund
- The Engine / Builder Platform
- Kauffman Foundation
- MD Anderson Cancer Center
Inclusion reflects prior leadership, program, advisory, investment, or institutional work. It does not imply current endorsement, partnership, or client status.
Philosophy
Four operating principles.
Systems over transactions
A single award or round is an event. We build the mechanism that produces the next five.
Evidence over narrative
Institutional capital underwrites proof. We build the proof before we build the pitch.
Deployment over commitment
Capital that cannot be deployed is not capital. Design starts from the deployment path backward.
Filtering over volume
Go / no-go discipline is the highest-leverage decision in any pursuit strategy.
Selected Experience
Where the reps came from.
- 10+ venture funds and capital vehicles structured or supported, including national technology-transfer vehicles
- Advisory to U.S. innovation agencies: NSF, NIH, ARPA-H, BARDA, SBA, and the U.S. State Department
- $250M+ in funding and contracts led as PI or Co-PI
- Innovation and commercialization programs reaching 60+ countries
- 100+ companies supported through designed and deployed programs
- Federal capital strategy and program positioning for deep tech, healthtech, and dual-use teams
Why Now
Why clients engage Forged Catalyst at this moment.
Funders are shifting from activity-based to outcome-based review. Programs that cannot evidence conversion are losing renewal.
Non-dilutive capital has become strategically decisive, and the organizations that treat it as an operating discipline are compounding against those that treat it as grant writing.
Capital vehicles are being formed faster than deployment capacity is being built — the gap shows up two years later, in the re-up conversation.
And most organizations do not need another advisor. They need embedded ownership. Much of the work is delivered as Embedded Capital & Commercialization Leadership leadership — one senior operator accountable for capital strategy, federal strategy and program positioning, investor readiness, and board alignment.
Context
Selected Experience & Programs
A secondary layer of programs and institutions connected to the work — listed quietly, without marks or claims.
- University City Science Center
- VentureWell
- The University of Texas at Austin
- State of Delaware
- Jobs for the Future
- Living Cities
A secondary layer of programs and institutions connected to prior leadership, advisory, or program work. Listed for context only — not an endorsement, partnership, or current client relationship.
Engage
Let’s discuss what you’re working toward.
Share your priorities, current materials, and the decisions ahead. Heath reviews each request for fit and availability.