University of Minnesota Adds Business Incubator to Help Researchers Start Companies

A new program aims to help researchers start new businesses based on their technologies to bring discoveries beyond the lab and into the market. 

The university's Venture Center developed the program, called Discovery Launchpad, as a response to what many innovators in educational institutions call the "valley of death" — the time between when funds run out on a research program and investors learn about it and pitch in funds.

"There's a lot of cases where the federally funded research dries up and yet a technology or innovation is still not evolved enough to be licensed to an existing company or to attract investors to take it the next mile," said Russ Straate, associate director of the Venture Center. "I think this will help reduce any of those that might have fallen into that trap."

Read the full story in the Star Tribune.