Research Commercialization Academy (BETA 0.01)

Author: Molly Greenberg

Source: http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/

Interest: Crowdfunding is not just limited to startups, small businesses tirelessly trying to get their feet off the ground. Universities are using the innovative platform as well, striving to tell their story and campaign for their needs, raising money for a project, class, initiative that they believe to be of value. George Mason University is one of the best examples of a college stepping up and trying out alternative, more forward-thinking methods for fundraising their endeavors, currently in the mids

Link: http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/2013/04/30/george-mason-launches-indiegogo-campaign-crowdfunding-for-student-social-entrepreneurs/

Author: http://www.genengnews.com/

Source: http://www.genengnews.com/

Interest: Harvard University just got a shot in the arm from one of its alumni: the Blavatnik Family Foundation donated $50 million to Harvard to launch an initiative to expedite the development of basic science discoveries into new therapies for patients and cures for disease. The Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator aims to identify early-stage technologies that show promise, upgrade their value, and prepare them for licensing and commercial development.

Link: http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/harvard-gets-50m-from-bff-toward-life-science-entrepreneurship/81248296/

Author: The Sacramento Bee & ASSOCIATED PRESS

Source: www.utsandiego.com

Interest: For anyone contemplating raising money through crowd funding, the National Federation of Independent Business has some tips: Spread the word: Reach out to your network of friends, family, patrons, existing clients and customers. Use social networking, as well as word-of-mouth. Make it personal: It’s about a personal connection to you and your project. Tell why it’s important or how it will benefit others. Backers want to be part of something that matters.

Link: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/apr/30/tp-crowd-funding-poised-to-grow/

Author: Elizabeth Smith Kulik

Source: www.venturebeat.com

Interest: Crowdfunding has once again become a hot topic in the financial world, given the recent one-year anniversary of the JOBS Act on April 5. The JOBS Act legalized equity- and debt-based crowd-funding in the U.S. However the SEC has missed congressionally mandated deadlines to complete the rule-making process to the detriment of capital-seeking entrepreneurs.

Link: http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/29/state-of-crowdfunding-2013/

Author: Dina ElBoghdady

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Interest: For $100, Micah Lubens bought a share of a vacant, two-story brick building that was promoted as the next up-and-coming hot spot along D.C.’s bustling H Street corridor. Through food blogs, Lubens learned of plans to transform 1351 H Street NE into a mini-replica of Asian night markets, with food stalls and at least one clothing shop. The developers were offering shares of the property online for $100 a pop.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/crowdfunding-breaks-into-us-investing-landscape/2013/04/29/2b58fbe8-a829-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html

Author: Greg Hinz

Source: Crain's

Interest: Chicago will establish a second incubator for startup technology firms, this one focusing on biotech and pharmaceutical companies, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is announcing today. Confirming and expanding on a development first reported by my colleague John Pletz, Mr. Emanuel said 12 companies already have committed to take space in the center, which is based loosely on the highly successful 1871 incubator at the Merchandise Mart that mainly serves digital firms.

Link: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130423/BLOGS02/130429941/chicagos-second-big-incubator-to-house-biotech-startups

Author: John Pletz

Source: Crain's

Interest: The state of Illinois and the University of Illinois plan to announce a new incubator for life-sciences startups on the Illinois Medical District campus. The incubator — called Health, Technology, Innovation at the Chicago Technology Park — will be 12,000 square feet and include laboratory and office space on the medical district campus, as the area around the University of Illinois Hospital on the West Side is known.

Link: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130422/BLOGS11/130429980/illinois-u-of-i-launching-life-sciences-startup-incubator-in-chicago

Author: Beth Potter

Source: BizWest Media

Interest: A Utah-based company won $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy as the first-place winner of the CU Cleantech New Venture Challenge held at the University of Colorado-Boulder for a spray that can decompose plastic. Students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, have filed a patent on the spray with plans to commercialize its use. The company is called Inviroment.

Link: http://www.bcbr.com/article/20130422/NEWS/130429989

Author: .

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Interest: A team of MBA students from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business placed first at the 16th Annual Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC 2013) international finals held April 11-13, 2013, at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. A team of Georgetown McDonough undergraduates won the National Undergraduate Venture Capital Investment Competition earlier this spring, making this year a clean sweep for Georgetown.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130423-908279.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Author: Charlie

Source: Clean Energy

Interest: Apparently some in North Carolina are not paying attention to the boom in clean energy businesses and jobs that have sprouted up around the state in recent years. When Senate Bill 3 passed in 2007 in a nearly-unanimous bipartisan vote, it established a Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) requiring the state’s utility companies to provide a portion (12.5% for investor-owned utilities and 10% for municipal utilities and electric coops)

Link: http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2013/04/23/repeal-of-the-reps-will-hurt-north-carolina/

Author: Christopher Martin

Source: www.bloomberg.com

Interest: More than half the U.S. states with laws requiring utilities to buy renewable energy are considering ways to pare back those mandates after a plunge in natural gas prices brought on by technology that boosted supply. Sixteen of the 29 states with renewable portfolio standards are considering legislation that would reduce the need for wind and solar power, according to researchers backed by the U.S. Energy Department.

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-23/u-s-states-turn-against-renewable-energy-as-gas-plunges.html

Author: ALLAN ROTH

Source: www.cbsnews.com

Interest: (MoneyWatch) You can have it all -- you can save the earth and make money by investing in clean energy. At least that's what I've heard said many times. After all, there is a finite amount of fossil fuels on the planet, and any innovator who can develop the next clean and cheap source of energy is likely to become quite wealthy, as will those who are savvy enough to invest in it. The ultimate win-win, right?

Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57577530/is-investing-in-clean-energy-a-good-idea/

Author: The Wall Street Journal

Source: ACC Clean Energy Challenge

Interest: COLLEGE PARK, Md., April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bioadhesive Alliance Inc., a team from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University developing a bio-based adhesive for potential use as a substitute to petroleum-based asphalt binder, won the second annual ACC Clean Energy Challenge and the Department of Energy's $100,000 grand prize, competition officials announce today.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130422-909293.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Author: .

Source: Business Wire

Interest: The University City Science Center has launched the sixth round of its QED Proof-of-Concept program. QED, the first multi-institutional proof-of-concept program for the life sciences and health IT, brings together academic invention, market insight, and commercial guidance as researchers are paired with business advisors to perform technical proof-of-concept validation for life science, healthcare and health IT technologies with high commercial potential.

Link: http://www.innovationamerica.us/index.php/innovation-daily/29090-sixth-round-of-qed-proof-of-concept-program-launches-with-new-partner-and-new-revenues-business-wire?utm_source=innovation-daily---your-daily-newsletter-highlighting-global-innovation-news-a

Author: TELIS DEMOS

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Interest: Eventbrite Inc., an event ticketing company, has raised $60 million from two investors, making it the latest example of a startup to raise significant private late-stage funding that puts off an initial public offering. San Francisco-based Eventbrite had sparked expectations of an imminent IPO when it said earlier this month that it hired a chief financial officer, Mark Rubash, who previously worked at Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323551004578436851078712808.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Author: Elizabeth (Lisa) J. Kuuttila

Source: ABQ Journal

Interest: The America Invents Act which radically revised U.S. patent law became fully effective last month. Among other “unintended consequences” the act has made collaboration more difficult and costly during the early stage investigation and later commercialization of university-based scientific research.

Link: http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/04/22/opinion/intellectual-property-rights-are-in-need-of-protection.html

Author: .

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Interest: MaRS Innovation, a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, today announced the formation of a strategic partnership with Pfizer Inc. to advance early-stage technologies related to human health in therapeutics and diagnostics.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130422-906682.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Author: McKenzie Womack

Source: lsureveille

Interest: Student-made company Frosted, which sells gourmet cupcakes, won the top prize at Friday’s Venture Challenge hosted by the LSU Student Incubator. The Student Incubator, a program of the Louisiana Business and Technology Center, is a place for students to create their jobs and businesses and hire other students, said LBTC Director Charles D’Agostino. Four students with their own businesses won a combined $25,000.

Link: http://www.lsureveille.com/news/article_4c361ca2-aacb-11e2-a166-0019bb30f31a.html

Author: .

Source: University of Colorado Boulder

Interest: Regional student commercialization projects, ranging from a cooling system for data centers to a rooftop system that captures carbon dioxide -- a brewery byproduct -- and converts it to an algae-based nutraceutical, will be recognized at the CU Cleantech New Venture Challenge this week.

Link: http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2013/04/17/student-energy-startups-compete-100000-doe-sponsored-cu-cleantech-challenge

Author: Andy Giegerich

Source: Sustainable Business Oregon

Interest: Portland State University and Wells Fargo have teamed up on an effort to boost the flow of cleantech ideas. The school and the bank are enlisting students to participate in the PSU-Wells Fargo Cleantech Challenge, which will provide $50,000 university innovation teams bring their ideas to market.

Link: http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2013/04/psu-wells-fargo-seeking-cleantech.html