Reimagining Tech Transfer in 2023

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TL:DR

• Tech transfer is more important than ever, yet both companies and TTOs are struggling to seize opportunities.
• Data driven commercialization can help you leverage data for more, faster, and better licensing deals.
• Unfortunately many data tools for tech transfer are fragmented and siloed.
• RocketSmart.io provides an integrated data driven platform for industry and company matching, and pitch generation - so you can spend less time searching, and more time closing deals.
  
  

Why data drives better commercialization

As companies struggle with increasing customer demands, rising costs for supplies and employees, and a shrinking labor pool, demand for the latest innovations has soared. Tech transfer is a proven way to help companies meet these challenges. 

And yet…companies struggle to find the right university-produced innovations, while universities often have difficulty connecting with the right companies. Demands on everyone’s time have grown exponentially. There are many opportunities to seize, but there are also fewer people to seize them. A combination of the Great Resignation, burnout, and the recent spurt of layoffs have left many organizations short staffed - and many employees feeling overwhelmed.

So how can you overcome these challenges? Through automated tech transfer organization (TTO) support. AI enabled support not only benefits universities seeking to commercialize research, but also companies who need these innovations to navigate these turbulent times. It can help you to quickly find the best partner for your researchers’ innovations.

AI enabled support depends on data - “the new oil”. Today, you can leverage data for more, faster, and better licensing deals. But data alone isn’t enough. Fragmented tech transfer processes and functions can hinder even the most tech savvy TTOs. Switching repeatedly between different software packages adds friction to tech transfer. Using general purpose tools in the highly specialized world of tech transfer is like using an excavator to plow a field, instead of a tractor. Both an excavator and a tractor move dirt around, but only one is up to the job of supporting crop growth.

Specialty tools turbocharge your commercialization process
You can solve this problem with the right specialty tools. Data driven commercialization platforms help overcome fragmentation and also enable you to take full advantage of data. These platforms enable you to use your existing tools for faster and better licensing deals. They’re an important part of the Tech Transfer Support Ecosystem.

What are data driven commercialization platforms? These platforms gather data about industries, companies and innovations - and then output a specific analysis for a particular research innovation. Rather than forcing you to decide in advance which industry could be relevant to your research innovation, they show you different suggested industries. They also help with what I call “invention extension” - enabling you to file multiple variations of your research innovation in a patent, as well as opening up new and potentially lucrative licensing opportunities. And they instantly give you company partner suggestions. 

Data driven commercialization platforms reduce your time spent looking for information about industries and partners. They help you get to your most valuable work faster - shaping your approach to specific company partners who are likely to be interested in your innovation. After all, the data itself isn’t what’s interesting - it’s what you do with the data, to close the licensing deal. Data driven commercialization platforms help you spend less time just finding data and more time using data to close deals. And that benefits everyone - your researchers, the company receiving their valuable innovations, and the customers of the new and exciting products that your researchers will help to make possible.

It takes an ecosystem to license research IP

I created a diagram of the Tech Transfer Support Ecosystem, showing the important role of data supports. These supports enable you to leverage data to create better licensing deals, faster. The below diagram shows the many different types of available support, for everything from idea analysis to industry and company matching. But only some of these tools are specifically designed for tech transfer support - and some aren’t even software, but require humans to do the work. Between rising salaries and other costs, and reduced labor force availability, automation is clearly the better bet.

But there’s a bigger problem. Many of these tools are siloed, focused on specific functions. And they don’t talk to each other. So you are left integrating the results, and yet again spending time on information research and preparation - when you could be focused on closing licensing deals. 

Introducing RocketSmart.io, our latest product. Rocketsmart.io enables you to rocket your researchers’ smart innovations out of the lab and into licensing agreements. It handles the information research and preparation, so that you can do the really valuable work. 

Rocketsmart.io analyzes a short description of your research project. It then recommends an industry and the problem that your research solves for the industry. Finally it recommends a company partner and supplies a suggested pitch.

Spend less time searching, and more time closing deals.

We’ll be launching Rocketsmart.io soon. Want to be one of the first to try it out - and get 2 free months to boot? Sign up here for our invitation only beta program.

KISSPlatform can help you answer these questions. Want to know more? Sign up for a call with me, D’vorah Graeser, and I’ll show you how we can help you analyze your market and find the right partner.

Photo credit: Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash