NUtech Ventures is joining Innosphere Ventures’ University Partner Program, which supports the growth of university startup companies.
Innosphere aims to be a value-added extension of NUtech’s commercialization process by facilitating introductions to corporate partners and helping faculty founders and CEOs achieve business milestones. NUtech and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln currently offer a variety of business resources to their startup ventures, including a customer discovery program that helps campus researchers develop value propositions, learn about customer segmentation and interview prospective stakeholders.
Before forming a startup, university teams begin by licensing intellectual property — typically patents — from NUtech Ventures, before further developing the technology for commercial use. In 2020, for the third year in a row, the University of Nebraska system ranked in the top 100 academic institutions worldwide for issued patents int he United States.
“University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty are launching startup companies to bring their innovations to the marketplace, and we’re excited to partner with Innosphere Ventures to provide additional support services,” said Brad Roth, executive director of NUtech Ventures. “This support is tailored for faculty founders, who are addressing the unique challenges and opportunities associated with early-stage technologies.”
Currently, Nebraska has startup companies related to cancer detection, organic weed control, conductive concrete, gut health, turfgrass management, and firefighting with drone technology, among others.
“We’re ready to start working with UNL faculty and licensing managers who are developing and commercializing cutting-edge research,” said Mike Freeman, CEO of Innosphere Ventures. “NUtech has a great mission of promoting economic development and improving quality of life. They’re a great partner for Innosphere because they share our same goal of transferring technologies from the lab to the marketplace, with broad, real-world impact.”
For many years, Innosphere has held partnerships with Colorado’s research universities and their technology transfer offices at Colorado State University (CSU Ventures), the University of Colorado Boulder (Venture Partners at CU Boulder), and the Colorado School of Mines’ Office of Research and Technology Transfer.
Innosphere Ventures’ University Partner Program has additional information on its website.
