Fueling Spin-offs: Case Studies of University-based Technology Start-up Funding

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Julie Lenzer ◽  
Piotr Kulczakowicz
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
New Products ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Single Path

The new technologies born from academic research can be very promising, yet they are often very early stage. University spin-off companies are uniquely positioned to tackle the risks associated with new technologies emerging from academia by developing proofs of concept, functioning prototypes, and new products. While these enterprises start from a solid research and development foundation, they face their own unique set of challenges—they are strongly anchored in the scientific and technological expertise that is typically backed by intellectual property but often lack the business experience needed to develop and market products demanded by customers. University spin-offs have access to substantial non-dilutive funding that can be utilized for advancing product development. While the relentless pursuit of these funds builds a company's credibility and improves its position for negotiating future private investment, university spin-offs would greatly benefit from an early focus on complementing their technology teams with their business teams. These new enterprises should consider pursuing private investment in parallel to utilizing sources of non-dilutive funding. Timing of private investment is extremely important to maximize the value of the opportunity, and, therefore, building relationships with investors early on and getting ready for executing an investment round can greatly increase odds for success. While there is no single path to formulate, pursue, and adapt successful financing strategies, lessons can be learned from real-life cases of university spin-offs that continue their journeys towards ultimate success.

scholarly journals Insights from an Entrepreneur: Interview with Dr. Sushil Bhatia, Founder of JMD

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-87
Author(s):  
Vinnie Jauhari
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
New Products ◽  
New Product ◽  
Lessons Learnt

This article is presented in the form of an interview with Dr. Sushil Bhatia conducted by Dr. Vinnie Jauhari. This interview with Dr. Sushil Bhatia, President and CEO of JMD, an organization based in USA provides insights into how new products are developed. The interview also documents challenges faced in new product development. The discussion with Dr. Bhatia also involves discussing the challenges in developing new technologies and difficulties associated with the process of commercialization. The lessons learnt therein would be valuable for both practitioners and academics.

scholarly journals Unlocking innovation in the sport industry through additive manufacturing

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlon Meier ◽  
Kim Hua Tan ◽  
Ming K. Lim ◽  
Leanne Chung
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
New Products ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Fast-changing customer demands and rising requirements in product performance constantly challenge sports equipment manufacturers to come up with new and improved products to stay competitive. Additive manufacturing (AM), also referred to as 3D printing, can enhance the development of new products by providing an efficient approach of rapid prototyping. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current adoption of AM technologies in the innovation process of the sports industry, i.e. level of awareness; how it is implemented; and it impact on the innovation process. Design/methodology/approach This work followed a qualitative research approach. After conducting a research of the current literature, this paper presents findings that include case studies from different companies, as well as a semi-structured interview with an outdoor sports equipment manufacturer. Companies from all over the world and of different sizes from under 100 employees to over 70,000 employees were considered in this research. Findings Literature research shows that AM brings many possibilities to enhance the innovation process, and case studies indicated several obstacles that hinder the technology from fully unfolding. AM is still at the early stage of entering the sports equipment industry and its potential benefits have not been fully exploited yet. The findings generated from the research of real-life practices show that AM provides several benefits when it comes to the innovation process, such as a faster development process, an optimised output, as well as the possibility to create new designs. However, companies are not yet able to enhance the innovation process in a way that leads to new products and new markets with AM. Limitations, including a small range of process able material and an inefficient mass production, still restrain the technology and lead to unused capability. Nevertheless, future prospects indicate the growing importance of AM in the innovation process and show that its advancement paves the way to new and innovative products. Research limitations/implications Limitations exist in the qualitative approach of this study, which does not include the quantitative verification of the results. Originality/value Very few studies have been conducted to investigate how firms can harvest AM to increase their innovation capabilities. How firms can use AM to shorten product development time is an emerging topic in business and operations but has not been studied widely. This paper aims to address this gap.

scholarly journals A NEW INNOVATIVE PRODUCT PORTFOLIO IN LATVIA AND ITS AVAILABILITY ON THE MARKET (BUSINESS INCUBATION PROGRAMME 2009-2014)

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Irena Silinevica ◽  
Maris Igavens ◽  
Liene Amantova-Salmane
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
New Products ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Product Portfolio ◽  
Business Incubators ◽  
Business Incubation ◽  
Word Cloud ◽  
Start Up

New product development is a very important issue for economic growth and welfare growth in general. The support programme of business incubators plays a significant role for operation of start-up companies in their creation of new products. In spite of it many enterprises of business incubators are not able to finish their innovation process, which shows on necessity to research  these problems. The aim of the research is to investigate the portfolio of new products which were developed by Latvian Start-up companies in the frame of the Business Incubation Programme  2009-2014,  related to  commercialization and market uptake.  The research is based on the authors’ conducted research as a part of scientific grant of Rezekne Academy of Technologies „New product development process modeling and analysis in Latvia – innovation barriers”.  The following methods are used in this research: content analysis, deductive, logical and comparison, and word cloud methods. As a result, the authors worked out and offered the word cloud of innovative products, which are produced in business incubators in Latvia, and which are available in markets.  The authors  worked out the word cloud of New Products, which are produced in business incubators, but are not on the markets.

Halal tourism: state of the art

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez ◽  
María Moral-Moral
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Tourist Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Conference Papers ◽  
Practical Level

PurposeHalal tourism is a growing segment that represents a potentially attractive niche. However, although increasing, it is still a young and residual area of academic research. This paper aims to explore its concept, boundaries and various streams to offer a clarifying vision for researchers and tourism managers.Design/methodology/approachA systematization of the state of the art was carried out based on the papers contained in Web of Science and Scopus databases. Moreover, papers not indexed in these repositories (conference papers, book chapters, etc.) were searched through scientific social networks mainly.FindingsIn spite of recent efforts, halal tourism is a field of study still in a very early stage; however, on a practical level, the number of halal products and services is starting to increase worldwide. Nevertheless, there are challenges for the tourist industry in moving towards the authentication of the halal tourism offer, including among them the role of new technologies and the digital economy.Originality/valueThis paper offers a comprehensive analysis of halal tourism research. It highlights its main areas, gaps and questions for debate. In this line, a research agenda is proposed.

scholarly journals A Conceptual Analysis on the Different Approaches to New Product Development and the Variables Associated With Modelling the Process

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Owens ◽  
Andrew M. Atherton
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
New Products ◽  
New Product ◽  
Time To Market ◽  
Development Cycle ◽  
To Receive

Globally, new products are launched daily. They provide answers to common or specialised problems, enrich lifestyles, provide alternatives to old solutions, amuse us etc. Companies that develop, design, manufacture, market and sell these products seek commercial compensation in the short, medium or long term “success”, however you measure it. Subsequently, New Product Development is a major issue for most companies as they seek to reduce time to market, reduce the development cycle, access new technologies and develop more and better products and services. New products that can successfully compete in local, national and global markets are a key concern for the majority of companies, so successful NPD is fundamental to both stimulating and supporting economic growth. It is a subject, which has received and continues to receive much attention, particularly in seeking to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. This chapter reviews the NPD process and considers the variables associated with the different approaches, which may be needed when developing a new product.

A Systematic Approach to Support Drive Train Design Using Tools for Human Comfort Evaluation and Customer Classification

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Albers ◽  
Sarawut Lerspalungsanti ◽  
Tobias Du¨ser ◽  
Sascha Ott ◽  
Jiangang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Ride Comfort ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Drive Train ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Customer Classification ◽  
Subjective Sensation

This article presents a systematic procedure and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) based tool for comfort objectification and customer classification, to support drive train developer during the product development process. In this case, the term “comfort objectification” can be clarified as reproduction of subjectively sensed convenience of a passenger through objectively measurable values. Many factors, such as noise, vibration, physical or psychological condition of a passenger generally influence the ride comfort. The main purpose of this project is to develop the drive train and his assemblies which can sustain customers’ demand of vibration comfort. The presented methods enable the identification and the evaluation of vehicle dynamic properties from the passengers’ point of view during start-up, shifting, steering as well as other procedures in the early stage of the product development process. For instance, this tool is developed for the evaluation of ride comfort during a start-up of a front-drive, intermediate-class car. To estimate the subjective sensation, the new driver modeling tool based on ANN is developed from the way individual drivers make their assessment. This paper presents a user-friendly interface which allows both experts and users who are still short of experience in the ANN field, to create different network structures depending on the task. By means of this tool, the modeling process can be effectively simplified and shortened. As a result, the objective values captured during each drive test are efficiently correlated with the subjective sensation. Consequently, the high performance of comfort prediction can be achieved. By using self organizing map as a tool for driver classification, the different types of drivers can be considered due to their comfort expectation and style of driving. The comfort prediction concerning each driver group can then be carried out. According to the approach of virtual drive train development, in this study, the elaborated multi-body simulation models are primarily used to generate several virtual start-up processes. This enables the determination of NVH properties of the future product and allows the developer to investigate the effect of vibration like judder and jerking on the degree of ride comfort. By applying objective data from the simulation, the comfort assessment using the presented tools can be executed. In the long run, costly drive tests and cost-intensive prototypes can be partially replaced.

scholarly journals STARTUP COMPANIES, CHALLENGES IN POLAND

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1621-1626
Author(s):  
Justyna Konsek-Ciechońska
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Development Fund ◽  
Start Up ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government

130,000 enterprises are created every day all around the world, some of them are startups, of which nine out of ten are liquidated, 60% in the second year of operation211. The aim of the article is to present the essence of a startup-type enterprise as the subject most often associated with new technologies and characterized by higher risk than traditional enterprises, but also a higher chance for above-average development and profits.Research on startups is of great importance. Many of these enterprises end their operation at a very early stage. These enterprises fail because, among other things, they have problems with raising capital, maintaining reputation, securing supplies, they are subject to limitations related to premises and high labor costs. However, many startups that survive and develop their businesses transform into successful enterprises that have an important role in the economy, an example may be Google, Apple or Microsoft. Therefore, this article attempts to define start-up enterprises operating in Poland and to recognize the challenges they must face.Only five years ago in Poland, the business model based on startups was small. Today, their potential was noticed not only by originators and founders of startups, but also by state authorities. In recent years, many measures have been taken in Poland to improve the conditions in the field of innovation at the government level. The Act on Innovation was adopted; the Polish Development Fund implements programs allowing to increase long-term economic and investment potential.In order to show that research on startups is important, four main issues were discussed: start-up enterprises were defined and described, startups' life cycles were explained, startups operating in Poland were presented using descriptive statistics and finally, analysis of problems related to starting and development of startups was made.The research method used in the study is a review of literature, reports and websites as well as descriptive statistics. Startup is a venture that can change the face of the Polish economy so far associated with low labor costs, and which has a chance to turn into an economy competing with companies around the world with innovation and highly qualified human resources.Researchers can develop each of these stages of company development and analyze the challenges faced by the company at each of these stages in different areas. The purpose of this research is to contribute to the development of a comprehensive startup theory.

Breakthrough Product Development in Mature Company

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (3) ◽  
pp. 76-92
Author(s):  
Georgiy Laptev ◽  
Dmitriy Shaytan
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
New Products ◽  
New Product ◽  
Mature Stage ◽  
Actual Problem ◽  
Fuzzy Front End ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Start Up

Situational approach in management and continuous experimentation becomes a style of doing business for creators of breakthrough new products and innovative start-up companies. A company that successfully started with a breakthrough product, and developed into successful structured business, after some time, would start to lose its ability to create breakthrough new products. Internal corporate procedures and business processes, including the process of creating a new product become more formalized. Exploratory type of works at the initial stage, full of uncertainties in the process of new product development, is poorly formalized and requires flexible approach in management. Creative chaos that was on a start-up stage and that feed teams with fresh ideas disappears. Fireplace for creativity fades. Loss of this competitiveness is a serious argument to develop new approaches to arrange process of creating new products in a mature stage of business development. In the article based on experience in new product development we explore this actual problem and propose a novel approach for the passage of the high uncertainty stage, called “the fuzzy front end of innovation”, to create innovative products in matured businesses.

Founding angels as early stage investment model to foster biotechnology start-ups

1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunter Festel
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Investment Model ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
Innovation Processes

As a rule, in biotechnology and other technologies, a gap exists between innovations coming from academic research and the commercialisation of the results, which is a serious barrier for innovation processes. This article investigates the role of founding angels as an early stage investment model, which has been applied in North America for a number of years and is now also being established in Europe. Focus is the commercialisation of pre-seed and seed stage technologies developed at universities and research institutions. Founding angels close the gap by actively founding and building up biotechnology start-up companies, together with scientists, typically before the engagement of business angels and venture capital. For providing business expertise and day-to-day operational support they are not compensated monetarily, but with an equity share of the new company. This article analyses the approach and investment strategy of founding angels and contains case studies from Germany and Switzerland showing how this business model is realised.

Managing Biases in Product Development Teams: A Tale of Two Rocks

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-131
Author(s):  
Michael A. Keene
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
New Products ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Development Teams ◽  
Effective Decision Making ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Product Development Teams

The management of product development teams is a challenging task, especially when success hinges on the ability to guide technical and nontechnical personnel through an effective decision-making process. The “Tale of Two Rocks” exercise illustrates how differing motivations and beliefs about new technologies can affect the decisions developers and managers make in the product development process. In the exercise, the instructor provides a narrative about two very different new products: a novel, nontoxic cleaning solution and a simple rock with amusing packaging. When students complete a questionnaire about the market and profit potential of these new products, individuals with technical backgrounds prefer the high-tech solution, even when they sense that the market is more likely to accept the low-tech alternative. During the debriefing, students learn to both distinguish between a technical accomplishment and a business opportunity and better understand the mind-set of their colleagues.

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