Thanks very much to Stephen Nipper of The Invent Blog for sending me a tidbit about a neat company in England that is raising funds for its research. Biofusion, 70% owned by the University of Sheffield, is looking for 10M pounds to commercialize its products from various areas of research, ranging from stem cell research to relief for burn victims.
Companies like Biofusion and IP2IPO, mentioned in the article, are the kind of companies that many universities salivate when they meet. They understand the tech transfer process and how to commercialize something that at the time might only be a research product. They have the patience to keep digging and finding equity partners to bring the research to life - something universities usually just don't have the resources to do.
I've seen many excited and willing businesses just fail miserably by a university because they don't understand what the university is going to ask for and what the university can actually provide in the process. They also don't get what investors are going to be looking for, and don't have a feel for how they should market the fledgling technology. Trying to sell a cream that could be big business but is 18 months away from commercialization is totally different from selling a similar product that already has a manufacture and distribution stream. The equity shares are different, the potential partners to approach are different, and even a lot of the IP issues can be different (depending on where they are in the research and protection lanes).
So far Biofusion and IP2IPO seem to be doing right by their partners. Hundreds of similar companies also exist in the U.S., but I figure it's ok to send some applause to our friends in the U.K. as well.
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