Why universities are the new startup incubators
By Janet Napolitano, President of the University of California
When you think of a startup’s humble roots, you probably think of a college dorm room or someone’s basement. But in 2006, a small utility room was set aside on the second floor of a building at the University of California, San Francisco for fledgling startups. The idea was to help life science startups succeed by reducing their risk and overhead, by providing lab space and equipment. Of the first six startups to rent space, four went on to receive venture capital funding and one, True Materials with its microparticle technology, was acquired by the genetic analysis company Affymetrix for $25 million.
Increasingly, public research universities are answering the call to help incubate new ideas and technologies. Between 2012 and 2013, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences found that research at public universities resulted in more than 13,322 patent applications, 3,094 intellectual property licenses and 522 startups.
At the University of California alone, research has led to roughly 1,300 startups since 1968, three quarters of which were launched since 2000, according to a new Bay Area Council Economic Institute report. In 2015, our research spawned 85 new startups and 1,756 new inventions. That’s nearly five inventions a day.
Does supporting innovation and entrepreneurship divert focus from the historic role of public research universities? I say no. Academics and innovation have always gone (and should go) hand in hand, with broad societal and economic benefits.
Innovation is at the core of our public service mission. UC inventions have improved our quality of life in myriad ways, from sweet strawberries to the Hepatitis B vaccine or the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that revolutionized medical diagnostics.
Among UC-affiliated startups active in 2015, 48 percent were engaged in medical therapeutics, diagnostics or devices. Other startups were immersed in a range of other sectors including clean energy, agriculture, research tools and software.
The economic benefits are clear. Most UC startups stay headquartered in California, employing and supporting about 150,000 jobs across a range of industries and incomes, and contributing $20 billion to the economy, according to the economic institute’s report.
Basic research should be pursued regardless of its potential for commercialization. It broadens our understanding of the world and provides a shared knowledge base for all scholars and researchers. But basic research can’t stay locked away in an ivory tower.
A fundamental purpose of universities is to create an environment where students are encouraged to pursue and embrace opportunities, explore new ideas, take intellectual risks and begin the process of becoming the researchers and innovators of tomorrow.
By pushing discoveries out of the lab and into the world, UC shines a light on the real-life impact of our research and deepens the public’s understanding of the important work we do.
At the University of California, we want to foster an innovative and entrepreneurial culture that facilitates new industries, companies and products that improve our health, change the way we do business, solve complex problems and enrich our lives. That’s why I launched the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization Initiative at UC to accelerate the translation of ideas and inventions in our research labs out into the global economy.
Credit: Tule Technologies
UC is already home to nearly three dozen incubators and accelerators that provide space, equipment, shared resources and mentorship to budding entrepreneurs, many of them seeking to develop technologies to fight cancer, Alzheimer’s and other debilitating diseases. That small utility room at UCSF was our first tech incubator; now we have incubators in larger, dedicated spaces across our university system.
We are investing our own money in helping good ideas blossom. Our UC Ventures Program seeks to invest in innovations coming out of our campuses, medical centers and labs. Our PrimeUC competition last year awarded $300,000 to winning startups with early-stage innovations in health sciences, and our Research Catalyst Awards awarded $4.8 million to four innovative research projects.
If we want a society teeming with innovation, this is what universities can and should do. It is our collective responsibility — whether we are policy makers, business leaders, university administrators or innovators — to ensure these institutions never cease to fulfill this role, so that we can tackle global challenges and fuel the long-term solutions our society needs.
Janet Napolitano is the 20th president of the University of California, a university system with 10 campuses, five medical centers, three affiliated national laboratories, and a statewide agriculture and natural resources program.
Prior to joining the University of California, President Napolitano served as Secretary of Homeland Security. She is a former Governor of Arizona, a former Attorney General of Arizona, and a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.
