MIN-Corps Blog: MIN-Corps' Impact on Commercialization and Entrepreneurship

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

MIN-Corps' Impact on Commercialization and Entrepreneurship

MIN-Corps is coming to our third anniversary as a National Innovation Corps site. It has been gratifying to teach and coach University of Minnesota innovators as they take steps toward commercialization and entrepreneurship. We're achieving exciting results!

2016-2017 was our first full year delivering the complete suite of programs depicted above. We also piloted integrating Lean LaunchPad content into the UMN undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Senior Design capstone course.

Over 450 University of Minnesota students, staff and faculty participated in one or more programs, including 90 teams and 685 individual registrations
30% of the technologies in Office for Technology Commercialization Venture Center startup pipeline have participated in MIN-Corps programs

We introduced two ecosystem events to increase interaction between University of Minnesota innovators and the business community.

Our first annual Women Innovators Conference attracted 171 female students, staff and faculty, as well as women STEM professionals
We also partnered with the Mayo Clinic to host the Walleye Tank Life Science Venture Competition, which attracted 18 ventures presenting to 120 executives and investors

Our two-year-old collaboration to provide the skills development component of the NIH-funded MN-Reach medical commercialization research initiative has begun to bear fruit:

6 startups
55 business strategies for health care products
6 industry partnerships and licenses
$3 million commercialization research funding (NIH and UMN sources)

Additional outcomes include:

6 teams accepted to National I-Corp Teams program (100% yield),
$500,000+ commercialization SBIR/STTR grants and angel funding
3 additional startups launched
9 venture competition semifinalists and prize winners (MN Cup, Clean Tech Open, Walleye Tank)

Thank you to our collaborators and participants!

About MIN-Corps

MIN-Corps is the University of Minnesota site of the National Innovation Corps, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. We collaborate with technology commercialization initiatives across the University of Minnesota, including:

MnDRIVE - Minnesota’s Discovery, Research, and Innovation Economy – is a landmark partnership between the University and the state of Minnesota that aligns areas of University research strength with the state’s key and emerging industries to address grand challenges.

MN-REACH - Minnesota Research And Commercialization Hub - is a joint effort between the University and the National Institutes of Health that provides the initial investment and resources to nurture innovators to develop high priority technologies within the NIH's mission.

Office for Technology Commercialization (OTC) - the University of Minnesota technology transfer office that oversees all aspects of technology commercialization at the University, including patenting, licensing to established companies, and startups spun out of the University.