Two Companies Led By Saint Louis University Alumni Awarded 2025 Arch Grants

10/28/2025

Awards Mark Second Year for Firms Participating in SLU's New Venture Accelerator to Receive Funding

ST. LOUIS - Two firms led by Saint Louis University alumni recently received 2025 Arch Grant awards. The firms will each receive a $75,000, equity-free grant from the St. Louis nonprofit. 

GenAssist, led by Gabe Haas (SSE ’20) and co-founder Joe Beggs, and Decodable Reads, led by Paul Heinemann (A&S ’18) and Joe de Lorimier (CSB ’19), are part of a cohort of 19 new businesses receiving Arch Grants funding this year. 

As part of the Arch Grants award, each company commits to operating the business from St. Louis for at least one year. Grant winners from outside Missouri and at least 150 miles from St. Louis receive an additional $25,000 in grants to facilitate their relocation to St. Louis. After their initial year in the program, Arch Grants awardees who demonstrate the ability to expand operations in the St. Louis area are eligible for up to $100,000 in follow-on funding through the organization's Growth Grants program.

GenAssist was one of four companies in SLU’s inaugural New Venture Accelerator (NVA) cohort in 2024. The NVA, led by the Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship, offers current SLU students and alumni who have graduated within the last five years equity-free investments of up to $50,000 to launch their businesses. In addition to financial support, the teams receive additional resources and mentoring from SLU experts.

“The New Venture Accelerator was built to give SLU founders the resources, mentorship, and capital to take their ideas from concept to reality,” said Lewis Sheats, director of the Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship. “Seeing GenAssist continue to grow and earn recognition from Arch Grants proves that this model works — and that SLU entrepreneurs are solving problems that matter.”

The award to GenAssist marks the second award to a company that participated in the New Venture Accelerator. Fellow 2024 cohort member Posie Pots received an Arch Grant in 2024. 

“These founders represent the best of what Saint Louis University stands for through innovation with purpose,” Sheats said. “Their success reinforces how SLU and St. Louis together can serve as a launchpad for high-impact ventures that create both economic and social value.”

GenAssist

GenAssist is developing MyoMatrix, a regenerative biomaterial to treat Volumetric Muscle Loss (VML) and other muscle conditions. MyoMatrix is designed to replace lost muscle tissue following severe injuries.  It is comprised of proteins that mimic the natural extracellular matrix, supporting the wound and stimulating stem cells. When implanted or injected, MyoMatrix encourages the growth of skeletal muscle stem cells. These cells then differentiate into muscle cells, forming new muscle tissue as MyoMatrix absorbs.

Haas was an undergraduate researcher working in the lab of Koyal Garg, Ph.D., associate professor of Biomedical Engineering in SLU’s School of Science and Engineering, working with the proteins that make up MyoMatrix when he decided to shift his career path from physician to entrepreneur.

“It was a great experience being in Dr. Garg’s lab,” he said. “It was intense, but she was always so receptive and eager to help us learn.”

In the first few years of the company, funding has come from a variety of sources, from grants to gifts. A gift of $25,000 from a family friend allowed the team to get a lab with BioSTL and start their work. Haas and co-founder Joe Beggs also participated in the National Science Foundation I-Corps Program through SLU, finding 100 customers in seven weeks’ time.

Haas said working with the NVA has been crucial for him in learning to hone his pitches and grow his business acumen. 

Decodable Reads

Decodable Reads founders Paul Heinemann (A&S ’18) and Joe de Lorimier (CSB ’19) met in the Micah service community at SLU. Heinemann discovered as a public school teacher that many of his students were struggling to read. This led him to build Decodable Reads, a solution that pairs phonics skill lessons with topics of interest to students.

Decodable Read’s AI-enhanced platform creates custom decodable passages and phonics lesson plans. Educators can select the specific phonics skills their students need, the student then picks topics that interest them and the platform generates personalized reading materials. 

Decodable Reads is the recipient of the STLOnward Award, supported by NISA Charitable Fund.

About the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business

Founded in 1910, the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business at Saint Louis University has shaped the future of industry for more than a century. As one of the oldest business schools west of the Mississippi, the Chaifetz School has built a reputation as a leader in business education committed to innovation, inclusion and impact and recognized with eight undergraduate and graduate programs nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 13,500 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.