Research Commercialization Academy (BETA 0.01)

Author: Gant Daily

Source: Gant Daily

Interest: A Penn State researcher has been chosen to receive a grant through the Grand Challenges Explorations program, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. David Hughes, assistant professor of entomology and biology, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled “Taking Out the Bodyguards: A Novel Solution to Ag Disease.

Link: http://gantdaily.com/2012/05/16/penn-state-researcher-receives-grand-challenges-exploration-grant/

Author: GLOBE NEWSWIRE

Source: Align Technology

Interest: SAN JOSE, Calif., May 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Align Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALGN) today announced awards of $160,000 in new funding to four universities in North America and four universities internationally, and $60,000 in renewals for a total of $220,000 in scientific research funding for projects seeking to better understand orthodontic treatment with clear aligners.

Link: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/align-technology-awards-220000-as-part-of-its-university-research-award-program-for-clear-aligner-20120516-00539

Author: Steve Rosen, Tribune Media Services

Source: Chicago Tribune

Interest: Fifteen students in a business school class at the University of Missouri in Columbia displayed all those traits over the past school year while running a venture capital fund with a $600,000 pot of money. The purpose of the fund, which is completely student-run, is to identify and invest in potential high-growth start-up companies in Missouri.

Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/sns-201205141300--tms--kidmoneyctnsr-a20120514may14,0,1857503.story

Author: Tom Walker

Source: http://www.i2e.org

Interest: When the president signed legislation that reauthorized the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for six more years, entrepreneurs and scientists across the country breathed sighs of relief.

Link: http://www.i2e.org/blog/sbir-door-opened-to-vc-investment/

Author: BEN STORROW

Source: gazettenet.com

Interest: House Speaker Robert DeLeo unveiled a jobs bill Monday that would establish a $50 million Innovation Investment Fund aimed at promoting research at the University of Massachusetts and other state research institutions. The proposal calls for setting aside state dollars to be used as matching funds for Massachusetts researchers seeking federal and private grants.

Link: http://www.gazettenet.com/2012/05/15/house-bill-aims-to-aid-research

Author: ARLEEN JACOBIUS

Source: http://www.pionline.com

Interest: The $7.7 billion University of Michigan Endowment Fund, Ann Arbor, in January made commitments to two funds of information technology venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and is investing alongside Sequoia Capital in its U.S., China, and India venture capital and growth equity funds.

Link: http://www.pionline.com/article/20120514/PRINTSUB/305149938/institutional-investors-like-venture-capital-again

Author: http://business380.com

Source: http://business380.com

Interest: The Iowa Centers for Enterprise has opened a commercialization fund for University of Iowa researchers interested in pursuing additional data to position their technologies for commercialization and licensing. The fund will be managed by the University of Iowa Research Foundation (UIRF).

Link: http://business380.com/2012/05/12/iowa-centers-for-enterprise-opens-1m-commercialization-gap-fund/

Author: Alan Hall

Source: Entrepreneurs

Interest: The industry has been abuzz this week with the release of the first market research on the crowdfunding industry, the Crowdfunding Industry Research report from www.crowdsourcing.org, which also coincides with the launch of the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA).

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alanhall/2012/05/14/an-interview-with-carl-esposti-crowdfunding-industry-research/

Author: Danielle Sacks

Source: FastCompany

Interest: The world is about to have a whole lot more angels. Thanks to the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act that was enacted this April, average people will soon be able to use crowdfunding investment platforms to become equity shareholders in startups. Here, the story of that bill's more-than-two-year gestation is told by the principal characters--from a pair of lawmakers to a joker running an L.A. ad firm.

Link: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/166/michael-migliozzi-pabst-brewing-co-crowdfunding

Author: Loraine Anderson

Source: HispanicBusiness.com

Interest: Crowdfunding uses the Internet and lots of social media to ask for donations for various causes and businesses. The results are often surprising.

Link: http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?idx=283697

Author: NCET2

Source: NCET2 Research Commercialization and SBIR Center

Interest: Two webinars that feature university technologies and partnering are scheduled for May and June. MedStar Institute for Innovation, on May 22 will talk about resilience engineering and its applications to healthcare. On June 5, the University of Minnesota will talk about Minnesota Innovation Partnerships as a new and unique approach to the way the University of Minnesota handles intellectual property with business and industry partners. Click on the link below for more information.

Link: http://center.ncet2.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=351

Author: Arleen Jacobius

Source: pionline.com

Interest: Venture capital is gaining a little love and some new money from institutional investors following a decade-long stretch of poor returns and client withdrawals. Only a select few managers are benefiting. Some 75% of total capital raised during the first quarter went to six funds: the $1.5 billion Andreessen Horowitz Fund III LP; $600 million Canaan Partners IX; $600 million Bain Capital Venture Fund 2012 LP; $520 million Summit Partners VC Fund III LP; $375 million Charles River Ventures XV LP.

Link: http://www.pionline.com/article/20120514/PRINTSUB/305149938/institutional-investors-like-venture-capital-again

Author: STEVE ROSEN

Source: sunherald.com

Interest: Fifteen students in a business school class at the University of Missouri-Columbia displayed all of those traits over the past school year while running a venture capital fund with a $600,000 pot of money. The purpose of the fund, which is completely student run, is to identify and invest in potential high-growth start-up companies in Missouri.The Student Angel Capital Program completed its first deal in April, investing $30,000 in a company called EternoGen.

Link: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/05/14/3945571/kids-and-money-missouri-student.html

Author: Matt Laslo

Source: Wamu.Org

Interest: President Obama is asking Congress to pass legislation to help small businesses. The idea is to incentivize hiring new workers by offering businesses a tax credit if they expand their rolls. Instead, the House recently passed a small business bill that provides tax relief to small businesses, but has no incentives for hiring new workers. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) supported the House version but says its time the two sides come together and work out their differences.

Link: http://wamu.org/news/12/05/12/congress_divided_over_how_to_help_small_businesses

Author: Suw Charman-Anderson

Source: Forbes

Interest: The Crowdfunding Industry Report from researchers massolution reveals that crowdfunding platforms raised almost $1.5 billion, funding over one million projects in 2011. They also say that, with current trends, the already growing market is set to double in 2012.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2012/05/11/crowdfunding-raised-1-5bn-in-2011-set-to-double-in-2012/

Author: Staff

Source: NCET2 Research Commercialization and SBIR Center

Interest: STARTS TOMORROW! Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 8:00 to 9:30pm ET This course will provide you with comprehensive and practical steps to converting your research project into a commercial product. This course is based upon practical lessons from the presenter’s 28 years of real life experiences as founder or co-founder of five start-up companies, one of which was taken public through an IPO.

Link: http://center.ncet2.org/index.php?option=com_joomla_lms&Itemid=53&task=details_course&id=70

Author: http://www.marketwatch.com

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com

Interest: Young entrepreneurs developing energy from waste water treatment, robots for cleaning solar panels and solar cell films with 20% more efficiency took the top prizes at the First Look West (FLoW) regional finals competition, which closed last week. At an awards celebration held at the California Institute of Technology on May 1, Stanford Nitrogen Group, Greenbotics and Xite Solar shared $200,000 in prize money.

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/200k-awarded-to-university-student-led-startups-focused-on-clean-and-renewable-energy-2012-05-10

Author: http://www.pr.com

Source: http://www.pr.com

Interest: National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2), an organization of entrepreneurial universities creating and funding university startups, has just announced the launch of their crowdfunding website: YouCrowdfund.org. The mission of YourCrowdfund is to provide information, education and intelligence to the crowdfund community.

Link: http://www.pr.com/press-release/411896

Author: http://eon.businesswire.com

Source: http://eon.businesswire.com

Interest: Axonia Medical, an early stage company pioneering a revolutionary approach to repair and restore damaged peripheral and central nervous systems, announced today that the company has closed on $2.0 million in seed financing. The financing was led by Southwest Michigan First Life Science Venture Fund and included participation from Ann Arbor SPARK and Western Michigan University Research Foundation, Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center.

Link: http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20120510005511/en

Author: Kathryn Meier

Source: http://www.udel.edu

Interest: T3D Nanotech, LLC, a high technology startup company spun off from patent pending nanotech research at the University of Delaware, was recently awarded $1,000 in UD’s Hen Hatch competition. But that award was preceded by another honor: selection to participate in the 2012 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC). As the world’s largest and richest business plan competition, the RBPC supports the creation of new startup companies and brings together business and engineering students from the world’

Link: http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2012/may/t3d-startup-rice-051012.html