Research Commercialization Academy (BETA 0.01)

Author: Christine Williamson

Source: Pensions & Investments

Interest: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, committed or invested a total of $274 million from its $8 billion endowment to nine alternative investments and two long-only international equity managers, according to recent board of regents meeting reports.

Link: http://www.pionline.com/article/20130410/DAILY/130419989/university-of-michigan-picks-managers-to-run-a-total-of-274-million

Author: .

Source: PRWeb

Interest: The Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative at Arizona State University continues to draw record numbers of entrepreneurial students eager to find the funding, resources and support to launch their ventures. Nearly 350 applications were submitted for the 2013 Edson program, marking the fourth consecutive year that the program has seen an increase in applications.

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Student-Entrepreneurship-Maintains-Record-Levels-4423792.php

Author: Yuliya Chernova and Lora Kolodny

Source: Venture Capital Dispatch

Interest: Sites that enable technology startups to “crowdfund”–tap dozens of small-scale investors for needed capital–could help venture and seed investors raise their own funds online, VentureWire reports today (subscription required).

Link: http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-208575/

Author: Deborah M. Todd

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Interest: Angel and venture capitalists converging on PNC Park for the Three Rivers Venture Fair are following a five-year trend that shows Pittsburgh has been a solid bet in an unstable economy. A report released Wednesday by New York-based accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP and South Side-based seed stage investor Innovation Works notes the Pittsburgh region saw increased deals and investment during a time when both were stalling nationwide.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/three-rivers-venture-fair-opens-in-pittsburgh-682941/

Author: Frank Raczkiewicz

Source: BaylorUMediaCom

Interest: WACO, Texas (April 10, 2013) - Four start-up companies owned by students in Baylor University's Accelerated Ventures Program have been funded by members of Baylor Angel Network through BAN AV Investment Fund One, LLC.

Link: http://www.baylor.edu/mediacommunications/news.php?action=story&story=129090

Author: .

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce

Interest: U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank today released the Department of Commerce’s fiscal year 2014 budget request, which supports President Obama’s plan for an economy built to last with crucial investments in advanced manufacturing, innovation, trade promotion and enforcement, and research and development. These investments are designed to help grow the economy, create jobs and strengthen the middle class.

Link: http://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2013/04/10/us-deputy-secretary-commerce-rebecca-blank-announces-fiscal-year-2014

Author: Kathleen Gallagher and Jason Stein

Source: Journal Sentinel

Interest: The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority is seeking proposals to form and manage a $3 million venture capital fund that would focus on making investments in Milwaukee. The agency, known as WHEDA, wants the fund to have a special focus on the Transform Milwaukee area.

Link: http://www.innovationamerica.us/index.php/innovation-daily/28802-state-seeks-proposals-to-manage-3-million-venture-capital-fund?utm_source=innovation-daily---your-daily-newsletter-highlighting-global-innovation-news-and-trends&utm_medium=gazetty&utm_campa

Author: Leena Rao

Source: .

Interest: According to an NVCA and Thomson Reuters report issued this morning, U.S. venture capital firms raised $4.1 billion from 35 funds in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 22 percent. But compared to Q4 2012, there is a 14 percent decrease by number of funds.

Link: http://www.innovationamerica.us/index.php/innovation-daily/28796-us-vc-fundraising-up-22-percent-to-41b-in-q1-2013-but-number-of-funds-raised-down-techcrunch?utm_source=innovation-daily---your-daily-newsletter-highlighting-global-innovation-news-and-trend

Author: Susan Karlin

Source: IEEE Spectrum

Interest: In the six years since Apple introduced the iPhone, with its stylus-free multitouch display, touch screens have become the preferred interface for mobile devices. Market demand for touch screens shows no signs of slowing. Last year’s worldwide revenues of US $16 billion are anticipated to jump to $31.9 billion in 2018, according to market research firm DisplaySearch.


Link: http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/innovation/startup-profile-tactus-technology

Author: Darden

Source: Forbes

Interest: Almost 60 percent of venture capital funding goes to companies in Silicon Valley, New York City and Los Angeles. How these regions came to be such dynamic business incubators has been the subject of several books and countless articles. The success factors include having at least one major university, a strongly affiliated industry group, access to human capital, and a major catalyst or company which creates new markets and opportunities for other entrepreneurs.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/darden/2013/04/09/the-next-silicon-valley-small-town-america/

Author: .

Source: ecoseed

Interest: AUSTIN, TX –The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI)in the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) and National Grid, an international electric and gas company based in the United Kingdom and northeastern United States, today announces the formalization of their partnership. This partnership aims to help develop innovative clean energy solutions. National Grid hopes to forge stronger links with the start-up community in central Texas by providing knowledge and expertise to accelerat

Link: http://www.ecoseed.org/more/press-releases/16333-austin-technology-incubator-and-national-grid-strengthen-partnership

Author: Peter Key

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal

Interest: The University City Science Center said Tuesday that five companies have moved into its Port business incubator. Two of the companies have their headquarters outside the United States: HDI Group, a software consulting company based in São Paulo, Brazil; and Bioscript Science, a medical communications company based in London.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2013/04/09/incubator-adds-five-tenants.html

Author: Shawn Knight

Source: Technology News

Interest: Crowdfunding campaigns are most often associated with nifty electronic gadgets but in reality, that’s only part of the equation that led to an 81 percent increase in money raised during 2012. Collectively, these platforms managed to generate $2.7 billion and fund more than 1 million campaigns last year according to a recent report from Massolution.

Link: http://www.techspot.com/news/52186-crowdfunding-platforms-raised-27-billion-globally-in-2012.html

Author: Joshua S Hill

Source: www.cleantechnica.com

Interest: New York-based ResHydro has announced plans to establish operations in Glasgow, Scotland, a move that would make them the first US renewable energy inward investment in Scotland. The news, released by way of a press release on PR Newswire, is hopefully the first of many such more outward US renewable energy investments.

Link: http://cleantechnica.com/2013/04/09/us-tidal-energy-company-first-scottish-renewable-energy-inward-investment/

Author: MICHAEL HILL

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Interest: ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A new study says New York could get the power it needs from wind, water and sunlight by 2030 with a concerted push, though the state's decade-long effort to significantly boost green energy shows how challenging that could be.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/07/ny-renewable-energy-study_n_3032873.html?utm_hp_ref=green

Author: Cathy Proctor

Source: www.bizjournals.com

Interest: Colorado commercial property owners could get loans for energy-efficiency projects under a proposal approved by the state Senate. The bill, SB 212, sponsored by Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass, creates the CPACE program, short for Commercial Property-Assessed Clean Energy.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/earth_to_power/2013/04/legislative-proposal-creates.html

Author: www.nanotech-now.com

Source: www.nanotech-now.com

Interest: Speaking at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, A. Paul Alivisatos, Ph.D., expressed concern that the cuts come when nanotechnology is poised to deliver on those promises. He told the meeting, which continues through Thursday, that ill-conceived cuts could set back America's progress in nanotechnology by decades.

Link: http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=47231

Author: NICHOLAS THOMPSON

Source: www.newyorker.com

Interest: Is Stanford still a university? The Wall Street Journal recently reported that more than a dozen students—both undergraduate and graduate—have left school to work on a new technology start-up called Clinkle. Faculty members have invested, the former dean of Stanford’s business school is on the board, and one computer-science professor who taught several of the employees now owns shares.

Link: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/04/silicon-valley-start-ups-and-the-end-of-stanford.html

Author: The New York Times

Source: The New York Times

Interest: Educators from nine universities are testing technology from a Silicon Valley start-up company, CourseSmart, allowing them to track their students’ progress with digital textbooks, David Streitfeld reports in The New York Times.

Link: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/daily-report-teacher-knows-if-youve-done-the-e-reading/

Author: Dara Kerr

Source: CNET

Interest: In the tech world, crowdfunding is most associated with Kickstarter and raising money for technology-centered projects like the Ouya gaming console, the Elevation Dock, and the Pebble smartwatch. But, the concept has a far wider reach than just consumer devices. Global crowdfunding raised nearly $2.7 billion for more than 1 million campaigns in 2012, according to a new report by Massolution. This means that the crowdfunding market grew by 81 percent over the year prior.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57578565-93/crowdfunding-raises-$2.7-billion-worldwide-in-2012/