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Is 2025 the year that university technology transfer will see a big boost? It certainly looks promising, particularly in the UK, where a government-led spinout review has encouraged universities to lower equity in spinouts to 25%. Most universities in the UK have adopted the guidelines. The debate over equity stakes is a discussion that Michele Barbour, associate pro vice-chancellor for enterprise and innovation at the University of Bristol, says she actually welcomed because it gave tech transfer a visibility that had so far lacked.
UK academic institutions will also have access to a £40m ($50m) pot for proof-of-concept funding. Although that is very little by international standards, it could still lead to as many as 80 new spinouts that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
In Asia, Japan has demonstrated its ability to build a formidable ecosystem of university venture funds — some of which rival even the size of Oxford Science Enterprises, the world’s biggest such investment company in spinouts.
And in the US, the University of Kentucky’s Estate Whiskey Alliance is a unique new partnership that focuses on an industry not traditionally associated with commercialisation but that stands to benefit from research into sustainable agriculture, waste management and tree harvesting.
Here is a look at the highlights of the last season of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.
This is Thierry Heles’ farewell episode of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.
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