GRA Expands VentureLab To Georgia’s Research Universities

The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) is facilitating the expansion of VentureLab at the state’s research universities. Piloted at the Georgia Institute of Technology, VentureLab is a strategy for enhancing and accelerating the process of spinning new technology-based enterprises out of university research.

GRA President C. Michael Cassidy defined the goals of VentureLab as providing earlier and increased awareness by the business and investment community of university commercialization opportunities and providing an easier and more efficient process for turning these technologies into new companies or new markets for established companies.

“Through VentureLab, we will be able to combine a number of existing programs with new strategies that streamline the commercialization process. The ultimate goal is to maximize the return on the state’s investment in university research,” Cassidy said.

In the pilot program, consultants and Venture Fellows worked with 75 faculty, identifying 20 projects with commercial potential. From the 20, five startup opportunities are being developed. The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state’s technology enterprise incubator, managed the successful pilot and will help local management apply the best practices experience ATDC gained in the pilot program.

For faculty members, VentureLab serves as a one-stop center for technology commercialization, providing a clear pathway from laboratory innovation to the commercial marketplace. It offers assistance throughout the process, helping evaluate the market potential of an innovation, advising faculty on the most appropriate commercialization path, providing educational outreach programs and, for innovations that will be the basis for start-up companies, involving seasoned entrepreneurs with experience in forming new companies.

VentureLab has four specific components:

• Technology Assessment: VentureLab staff members work with faculty at an early stage, helping them evaluate the potential commercial value of their innovations and determine the appropriate commercialization route – licensing the technology to an existing company or forming a new company.
• Commercialization Workshops and Seminars: VentureLab workshops and seminars explain such topics as intellectual property protection, the licensing procedure, the company start-up process and what venture capital firms look for in investments.
• VentureLab Fellows: For technologies that could form the basis for fast-growth start-up companies, VentureLab makes a direct connection to the marketplace through VentureLab Fellows: experienced entrepreneurs who use their market knowledge to evaluate innovations and build new companies on those that meet a demonstrated commercial need. By connecting researchers with entrepreneurs, VentureLab builds teams that can launch successful new technology companies.
• VentureLab Pre-Seed Awards: The gap between research result and commercial product is often quite significant. Among the largest of the obstacles is the need for pre-seed financing to generate a prototype or proof-of-concept needed to show the commercial potential of an innovation. VentureLab Pre-Seed Awards will help bridge that gap, offering the funding needed to advance the technology and make the resulting company attractive to investors.

More information on VentureLab is available at: http://www.venturelab.gatech.edu/index.cfm