Research Commercialization Academy (BETA 0.01)

Author: Xinhua

Source: CRIENGLISH.com

Interest: South Korea planned to legalize the crowd funding system as part of efforts to help venture companies finance their seed money from a number of small investors with fewer restrictions, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. Regulations for the crowd funding, including business requirements, investment ceiling and investor protection, will be introduced, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a joint statement with related ministries.

Link: http://english.cri.cn/6826/2013/05/15/3123s765008.htm

Author: Chad Garland

Source: Gannett

Interest: There are few places where someone can ask strangers for $1,000 and end up collecting two or three times that amount, but that sometimes happens on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The site allows entrepreneurs to recruit financial backing for creative projects such as films, games, technology and music. Anyone can post their project with a funding goal and a time span of up to 60 days to solicit sponsors, and anyone can back an idea by pledging a few bucks or a few thousand.

Link: http://www.azcentral.com/business/consumer/articles/20130513kickstarter-helps-ariz-entrepreneurs-fund-their-projects.html?nclick_check=1

Author: .

Source: Denver iJournal

Interest: Colorado State University on Monday announced the creation of a $1.5 million venture capital fund to support innovation and promote collaboration in higher education. “State funding for higher education has dropped more than $160 million since 2009, and we must find new ways to maintain quality and preserve access in response to the long-term trend of public divestment in higher education,” Chancellor Mike Martin said.

Link: http://www.denverijournal.com/article.php?id=8620

Author: .

Source: Clarksville, TN Online

Interest: Austin Peay State University is one of seven universities in the U.S. chosen to receive an inaugural $150,000 national grant to propose efforts that will increase the number of students receiving degrees. The University was named to the Next Generation Learning Challenges Breakthrough Models Incubator (BMI) grant program, an initiative managed by the nonprofit organization Educause with support from the League for Innovation in the Community College and funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates

Link: http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2013/05/14/apsu-is-one-of-seven-colleges-to-receive-national-grant/

Author: Corrie Sahling

Source: Rocky Mountain Collegian

Interest: In an email addressed to the Colorado State University community, it was announced Mon. May 13 that $1.5 million dollars has been been approved for the Colorado State University System Venture Capital Fund. Martin said he has helped two other Universities through similar programs and has seen great success.

Link: http://www.collegian.com/2013/05/13/csu-announces-1-5-million-venture-capital-fund/

Author: .

Source: The Trustees of Indiana University

Interest: Teams of Indiana University students who created a real-time interactive platform for sports fans and an Internet-based tuxedo rental business that provides online fittings have won IU Bloomington's BEST Competition. Each start-up company, founded by students from Kelley School of Business and the School of Informatics and Computing, will receive a $100,000 investment.

Link: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/24243.html

Author: Ranjani Ponnuchetty

Source: TVNZ

Interest: In just over a year, PledgeMe, a crowd funding website has raised more than million dollars for projects ranging from artificial hand to a fridge. PledgeMe is NZ's largest crowd funding source where the public can fund community, cultural, scientific and sustainability projects through their website.

Link: http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/people-power-sees-crowd-funding-site-hit-1m-5436687

Author: .

Source: PRWeb

Interest: Mindset Works announced today it was one of three companies selected by the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences to receive a $1.05 million SBIR Fast Track award. The company, which helps schools foster student motivation and achievement, will develop SciSkillQuest™, a game for middle school students which will teach them NGSS scientific inquiry practices and foster academic growth mindsets and learning strategies.

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Mindset-Works-Wins-IES-Fast-Track-SBIR-to-Develop-4510460.php

Author: Marc Castro

Source: VC POST

Interest: A bill whose main provision would place US$25 million in state money to fund start up companies in Wisconsin has passed the first reading in its state legislature. This passed despite the recent audit finding issues regarding the agency that would oversee the funds should the measure pass. The proposed bill comes from State Rep Mike Kuglitsch (R-New Berlin) would make available both state and private funds into a venture capital fund to Wisconsin based start up companies.

Link: http://www.innovationamerica.us/index.php/innovation-daily/29548-bill-for-venture-capital-money-passed-regions-ivcpost?utm_source=innovation-daily---your-daily-newsletter-highlighting-global-innovation-news-and-trends&utm_medium=gazetty&utm_campaign=05-13

Author: .

Source: Herald & Times

Interest: Now everyone from scientists to artists is turning to crowdfunding – appealing on the internet for ordinary people to back their dream project with cash. One of the world's largest crowdfunding websites launched in the UK just six months ago. In Scotland, 32 projects have so far raised nearly £700,000 on Kickstarter. Two-thirds of Scottish projects reached their fundraising target, better than the 45% overall rate.

Link: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/in-with-the-in-crowd.21051391

Author: Jonathan B. Wilson

Source: Point of Law

Interest: A recent study, Swept Away by the Crowd? Crowdfunding, Venture Capital, and the Selection of Entrepreneurs, claims that investors on popular crowdfunding websites focus on many of the same qualities and indicia of potential success as venture capitalists. According to an analysis published by the CrowdFund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (cfira.org) this study "casts doubt [on the claims of critics] that crowdfund donors are an unsophisticated lot".

Link: http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2013/05/study-claims-crowdfund-investors-focus-on-same-qualities-as-venture-capitalists.php

Author: Minyanville

Source: NASDAQ

Interest: Last week, Donald Trump announced - with characteristic flair - his involvement with a crowdfunding startup named FundAnything. The Donald's presence would be something of an embarrassment for many companies, but then the tech sector has never been above a little shameless self-promotion. In fact, it's become something of a virtue in this age of "likes" and "thumbs-ups." Product releases have evolved into Roman spectacles, featuring rock bands -- or, in the case of Samsung's (KRX:005930) Galaxy

Link: http://Minyanville,

Author: .

Source: Daily Markets

Interest: The National Association of Small Business Professionals (NASBP.us) released a new infographic today, highlighting the findings of a recent University of Tennessee small business start-up study. The study puts into perspective the leading causes contributing to the failure rates of new small businesses in America. The findings reveal that 1 in 4 start-ups will fail in their first year of operation, largely due to marketing issues such as pricing mistakes and wasted advertising resources.

Link: http://www.dailymarkets.com/stock/2013/05/13/lack-of-marketing-knowledge-leading-cause-of-start-up-failures-according-to-new-infographic-from-the-national-association-of-small-business-professionals/

Author: Samantha Murphy

Source: Mashable

Interest: If you're in the market for a new job and can't seem to find any openings, you might want to consider applying to a tech startup. According to a recent study by Silicon Valley Bank, about 87% of tech startups plan to hire new staffers this year. This may seem like a lot, and that's because it is. In fact, the number is up significantly from 14% four years ago.

Link: http://www.innovationamerica.us/index.php/innovation-daily/29495-87-of-tech-startups-hiring-this-year?utm_source=innovation-daily---your-daily-newsletter-highlighting-global-innovation-news-and-trends&utm_medium=gazetty&utm_campaign=05-10-2013

Author: Frederic Lardinois

Source: AOL Tech

Interest: YCharts, a Chicago and New York-based startup that calls itself a financial terminal for the web, today announced that it has raised $3.875 million in its third funding round. The round was led by Morningstar and Reed Elsevier Ventures, with participation from all of the company’s earlier investors, including Hyde Park Angels, I2A and Amicus. This round brings YCharts’ total funding to $8.625 million.

Link: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/09/web-based-financial-terminal-ycharts-raises-3-875m-from-morningstar-and-reed-elsevier-ventures/

Author: .

Source: IOWA INNOVATION CORPORATION

Interest: The Iowa Innovation Corporation announced today the first award of its newly released SBIR/STTR Assistance program to NanoMedTrix of Coralville, Iowa. The Iowa Innovation Corporation’s Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Outreach Program is designed to increase the rate of successful grant applications for Iowa's innovative businesses seeking federal grants through the Small Business Administration's SBIR/STTR programs.

Link: http://www.innovationamerica.us/index.php/innovation-daily/29455-iowa-innovation-corporation-awards-first-sbirsttr-assistance-program-award-to-nanomedtrix-llc?utm_source=innovation-daily---your-daily-newsletter-highlighting-global-innovation-news-and-tren

Author: .

Source: Photonics.Com

Interest: Four Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants targeting advances in solid-state-lighting technology were announced Monday by the US Department of Energy's Office of Science. The FY13, Phase I Release 2 grants, awarded to Plextronics Inc., Universal Display Corp., InnoSys Inc. and Litecontrol Corp., will explore the technical merits or feasibility of their concepts or technologies.

Link: http://www.photonics.com/Article.aspx?AID=53806

Author: .

Source: Herald Online

Interest: The Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research (the Institute) announced today that it has finalized a funding agreement with Garmor, Inc., an advanced materials company based in Orlando, Florida that focuses on developing low-cost, low-weight and high-strength materials without sacrificing critical features such as product durability, efficiency and performance.

Link: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/05/06/4836195/university-of-central-florida.html

Author: Erin Ailworth

Source: Boston.com

Interest: Picasolar, a start-up from the University of Arkansas, on Monday won the MIT Clean Energy Prize for developing a technology that could improve the efficiency of solar panels and make them cheaper to produce, said Boston utility NStar, one of the annual competition’s sponsors.

Link: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/2013/05/06/arkansas-start-wins-mit-prize/EuibRLyISs77cLuFpgUVSP/story.html

Author: Jonathan B. Wilson

Source: Point of Law

Interest: Internet giant Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) last week announced that it was buying a stake in peer-to-peer financing platform Lending Club. The transaction, which effectively values Lending Club at around $1.55 billion, validates much of the thinking around crowdfunding. The central premise of crowdfunding is that a large group of people, with access to transparent information and the ability to communicate in real time, will make efficient decisions with their own money.

Link: http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2013/05/google-invests-in-crowdfunding.php