As published in CURE News, February 2005.

UConn R&D Creates Start-Up Businesses

This is the second in a series of articles on the activities of UConn’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC).

The University of Connecticut Research & Development Corporation (UConn R&D) is a for-profit subsidiary of the UConn Foundation. Its mission is to create new business start-ups based on innovative technologies developed by the faculty and staff at UConn. Governed by an independent board of directors, UConn R&D evaluates technology at all UConn campuses, including Stamford, Avery Point, Farmington (Health Center), and Storrs.

UConn R&D works in concert with another unit of the OTC, the Center for Science and Technology Commercialization (CSTC), the UConn department that manages the university’s intellectual property. Together, in a process managed by the CSTC, the two units review the technology coming out of UConn each year. (UConn receives about 75 to 80 unsolicited invention disclosures from the faculty annually.)

For each technology, UConn's OTC first determines the most appropriate path to commercialization – either through a license to a larger company or via the creation of a start-up company. UConn R&D identifies those technologies that are candidates for business development beyond traditional licensing opportunities.

For each technology identified and reviewed, UConn R&D considers whether or not to proceed with the formation of a new business. The assessment is based on several criteria, including market characteristics, applications of the technology, its ability to be protected, and the stage of its development.

Once a decision has been made to create a new company, UConn R&D takes responsibility for the development process. The primary objective in creating a start-up is to maximize the total return to UConn. Equity ownership from the new business will typically be split a third each to the founding scientist(s), the scientists’ department(s), and the university.

When a decision is made to form a new business, and is approved by UConn R&D’s board of directors, the staff prepares a business plan and begins the process of recruiting management and seeking capital to fund the company. The new companies are eligible for laboratory and office space and other business support via UConn’s Technology Incubation Program, a third unit of the OTC.

“Most technologies coming out of the university are best suited to being licensed to an already operating company because it can enhance an existing product or fit well into an established product line or process. A startup company requires a tremendous amount of capital and other resources,” says R. Mark Van Allen, president of The University of Connecticut Research and Development Corporation.
 
“Technologies that can serve as a platform for multiple products and form the basis of a company are rare,” Van Allen adds. “Out of 80 technologies that would be disclosed in a given year, we might identify 14 or 15 for consideration as a start-up company. Of those, we might decide to give six or seven a very close, due-diligence review. And from that we might create two or three potential start-ups each year, with a full business plan, management team, and funding in place.”

UConn R&D welcomes interested  investors with expertise in specific industry areas that mirror UConn’s research strengths. UConn R&D is also looking for entrepreneurs who have specific expertise, who are familiar with start-up companies or have started a company, or who are looking to be involved in the development of new companies. There are opportunities for entrepreneurs at all stages of company development.

At this time, UConn R&D is in the process of completing funding for three projects:

1. SMP Technologies is based on a patented shape memory polymer. The company plans to create orthodontic appliances that incorporate and utilize shape memory properties for tooth movement.

2. Venomix plans to develop new insecticides based on the natural insect toxins in spider venoms.

3. Renzulli Learning is developing software to assess a student’s primary learning style, talents, skills, strengths, and weaknesses.

UConn R&D projects still in development include a project for producing DNA sensors to speed and direct the drug development process, and a project for developing a novel method to recognizing antibodies from immunologically reactive lymph nodes. Currently under review by UConn R&D are a project involving solid oxide fuel cells and a project to tap into and enhance the brain’s self-repair mechanism during neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.

“Some faculty inventors like to wade into the detail of starting a business, but most are happy to delegate that work to us,” says Van Allen, a Stanford graduate who was active in investment banking in Asia and New York before assuming his duties at UConn in 2003. “This is rewarding work for me personally, because the businesses we’re starting are going to be part of the future of Connecticut and we may potentially be seeding entirely new industries in our state.”