In-depth analysis - The Invention to Innovation Project

Article 2 - Assistant Vice President for Regional Economic Development, Jerry Coughter

The second article in our series on technology transfer examines the new 'Invention to Innovation" Project.  The goal of the project is to move disclosed or patented IP at George Mason University closer to commercialization, making it more attractive for licensing or company formation.  We recently caught up with the Director of the Invention to Innovation Project, Jerry Coughter.  Mr. Coughter is the Assistant Vice President for Regional Economic Development at George Mason University:

Why did the University create the Invention to Innovation Project?  Couldn't we just tap into the CIT Gap Fund?   
The Invention to Innovation Project is designed to address a situation that occurs at the earliest stage in the commercialization path of a technology, when the invention has been disclosed to the Tech Transfer Office, but before it is ready to be commercialized.  Even the most promising technologies generally require some additional work to make them attractive to investors or licensees.  This was a problem I saw frequently when I worked at CIT – investors typically aren’t interested in technologies, they’re interested in businesses.  So when we hosted events to connect inventors to investors, it was very difficult to make any matches.  The I to I Project will work to develop promising university inventions at the “pre-company” or “pre-investment” stage, with goal of getting them to a point where an investor might be interested in starting a business around one of them or a company might be interested in licensing one of them.  The mission of the CIT GAP Fund is to help early stage companies reach a point where they can attract outside financing, so it’s very complementary to our Project.  If I to I helps an invention become an innovation around which a company is formed, that new company can look to the CIT GAP Fund for assistance down the road.

Are there not any resources locally or regionally available that can assist early stage researchers in commercializing their work? 
Not really.  There are resources available once a company is formed, especially if that business has revenue or the promise of revenue in the near future.  The types of inventions we’re talking about are a long way from becoming revenue-producing.  On occasion it is possible to find companies or investors who will take on very early stage technologies, but because of the high degree of risk involved, they do it only with financial terms that are very favorable to them and not at all favorable to the university or the inventor.

How will you utilize the money that is raised for this project?
Remember that the goal of I to I is to push inventions further up the pathway to commercialization; different activities will occur at different steps along that path.  Also, different types of inventions will require different sorts of services, but in no case will we be funding additional basic research.  In general, support will be divided into two phases.  In the Evaluation Phase $2500 to $5000 might be spent to make a preliminary case (perform a market analysis, determine adoption drivers, investigate risk factors, etc.) for further development of the technology.  Completion of the Evaluation Phase might include preliminary product or prototype specifications and a description of critical success factors and prospects for funding. In the Investment Phase up to $50,000 may be devoted to develop a working prototype, fund pre-clinical development, or prepare a detailed development plan.  In either case, it is expected that a successful licensing event would result in the fund recouping its investment. 

How will you identify the areas of research at Mason that really need this kind of assistance?  
The I to I Project is completely agnostic as to types of inventions that will be supported; they may come from any faculty, staff or student in any department at Mason.  The first step in the process occurs when the invention is disclosed to the tech transfer office.  It’s the tech transfer staff that is trying to license the faculty’s inventions.  Next, there will be a formal, straightforward process by which the tech transfer staff, working with (and on behalf of) the inventor, will apply to the Invention to Innovation Project for assistance.  Decisions on which inventions to support will be made by our Advisory Board and mostly be based on the business case presented – that is, given this amount of money, we believe we can make this invention attractive to this group of investors or companies. 

Tell us about the Advisory Board. 
Our Advisory Board is a group of successful business people from outside the University – I think it’s important for donors to know that decisions on how to spend their money will be made by people with track records of starting, growing and funding businesses.  We have a couple of people who have raised and managed investment funds, some successful entrepreneurs, and people with experience in helping small businesses.

How can we find out more information about your project? 
I suggest people start with our website http://entrepreneurship.gmu.edu/innovate.html.

Or contact me directly at: jcoughte@gmu.edu

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