Guidance from MIT on transforming research into thriving startups
The world of academic research is brimming with groundbreaking inventions, but many of these world-changing discoveries remain confined to lab benches due to a lack of explicit responsibility for turning them into businesses. To address this issue, the R&D venture studio model, as outlined in the playbook, is gaining traction.
One institution embracing this innovative approach is MIT Proto Ventures. David Cohen-Tanugi, a venture builder at MIT Proto Ventures, is embedded within the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, working in the Fusion and Clean Energy channel. The venture studio model followed by MIT Proto Ventures embeds full-time entrepreneurial scientists, called venture builders, inside research labs.
The R&D Venture Studio Playbook, developed by MIT Proto Ventures, is designed to help universities, national labs, and corporate R&D offices establish their own in-house venture studios. The playbook is seen as an open-source framework for impact, offering case studies, sample templates, and guidance for institutions seeking to tailor the model to fit their unique advantages.
The playbook's launch comes at a time when there is a growing national interest in revitalizing the United States' innovation pipeline, with a focus on increasing the commercialization of academic patents. MIT Proto Ventures is actively sharing the playbook with peer institutions, federal agencies, and corporate R&D leaders seeking to increase the translational return on their research investments.
Gene Keselman, Managing Director of MIT Proto Ventures, states that the goal is not just to build startups out of MIT but to inspire innovation wherever breakthrough science is happening. Universities can accelerate the transition of ideas from the lab into real-world solutions by focusing on market problems first and creating ventures with a supportive ecosystem around them.
Cohen-Tanugi's first two venture successes have been a venture using superconducting magnets for in-space propulsion and a deep-tech startup improving power efficiency in data centers. Mark Arnold, associate vice president of Discovery to Impact and managing director of Texas startups at The University of Texas at Austin, has expressed interest in delivering new ventures with strong tech push and market pull, using the MIT Proto Ventures model.
The venture studio model, as demonstrated by MIT Proto Ventures, aims to make research systematic rather than messy and happenstance. It demands deliberate, sustained focus, and a new kind of translational infrastructure. By embedding venture builders within research labs, universities can foster an environment that nurtures the growth of innovative startups, bridging the gap between the lab and the market.
MIT has already sent the R&D Venture Studio Playbook to several universities and research institutions to help establish independent venture studios within their organizations. However, the specific names of these universities and institutes have not been publicly disclosed in the available information.
The launch of the R&D Venture Studio Playbook by MIT Proto Ventures marks a significant step forward in the commercialization of academic research. By providing a comprehensive framework for building ventures within research environments, the playbook offers a promising solution to the long-standing challenge of transforming world-changing inventions from lab bench discoveries into successful startups.
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