Category: Blog

By: Norton Kaplan, President & COO

On December 1, 2016 I had the pleasure of participating in a panel presentation at the SBIR/STTR Innovation Summit in Austin TX. Dr. Carlos Kemeny, Assistant Director, Office of Innovation and Strategic Investment, The University of Texas System chaired the panel titled “Partnering to Create a Successful Pipeline.” The focus was on encouraging the development of technologies, products, and services by University faculty and students that meet current and future market needs and objectives. We all know that this is a challenge, especially for Universities, so the creation of a comprehensive support program that begins with the voice of the market, identifying funding opportunities and then assisting with market entry strategies has been created. As presented by Christopher Taylor, I-Corps is being utilized to address the market need and voice of the end-users. The I-Corps program provides some funding, coaching and most importantly a methodical approach. Foresight is providing faculty/student startups with the identification and selection of specific funding opportunities that will advance the development of the technology and its value proposition to a market acceptable level. Foresight is also guiding the “company” through the funding application process and providing the market data and additional contacts to validate the approach being proposed. Jim Greenwood, Greenwood Consulting Group, emphasized that an approach that includes partnering with existing small and medium companies may be viable. And Atul Varadhachary, Fannin, added the value for companies to have support and a methodology to approach the market throughout the entire process increases the likelihood of success.

My thoughts on the overall challenges in creating this “pipeline” start with the faculty. Providing incentives to move from the University environment to the open market is an issue. There is risk and reward but the typical success rate is not as high as one may like to see. This is possibly addressed with the students and Ph.D. candidates. The faculty and University can be in a support or partnership position. An STTR opportunity may be considered as a funding source to move beyond the I-Corps program. Another approach is considering a Spin-Up model as Foresight has been utilizing to advance the development of technologies in preparation for market entry. Technical and financial risk is managed reducing the exposure to the individuals involved. The more than 35 years of experience also increases the probability of commercialization that an individual or start-up may not experience on their own. A program such as the one being employed at The University of Texas System is a great starting point as continuity, support and opportunity is sometimes all that is need to excite new entrepreneurs on the pathway to the market.

By: Thom Abbott, International Business Development

Our 4th year supporting Techinnovation, and our 1st going solely as a service provider, gave a slightly different perspective on this hugely successful and well attended event. Between Techinnovation and the concurrent SLUSH and Techventure events the NRF estimated a total 5000 people went through the doors over the two days. Having the events running at the same time, gave a good spread of entrepreneurs from all parts of business, from competitors to Foresight, early stage technology developers and researchers, through to investors and government bodies.

Due to be being very busy at our booth, I did not have too much chance to have a look round the event though it was clear IPI’s reach to different technology providers continues to grow, with a number of universities and research institutes coming from even further afield, to show their technologies. It was great to have a chance to see some of this and have some of the initial discussions that will hopefully lead to further business in the region for Foresight.

By: Alyssa Nacewicz, Director of Sales & Marketing

Last week, Foresight sponsored and hosted a booth at the ASTP-Proton Annual Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Among the number of sessions and events I attended while there, some comments from the opening plenary really stood out for me.

One of the speakers, Soren Frandsen (Chairman, Danish National Network of Technology Transfer) said, “In technology transfer trust is a competitive advantage.” This is a powerful statement which we are finding to be extremely true, as building and maintaining relationships is becoming increasingly important in this community. Creating a working relationship where the innovator and industry contact can exchange input and ideas will strengthen your advantage in the market. And as stated by Henrik Jorgen Anderson (Senior R&D manager, Arla Foods Ingredients Group), “The shelf life of knowledge is decreasing”, so having that competitive advantage is important when racing competitors to the market.

At Foresight, we always say “it is never too early to reach out to industry.” Even if you feel that your technology is not mature enough at this time to pursue partnerships, it is important to establish lines of communication and keep them open so as not to lose out on an opportunity for partnering.

By: Norton Kaplan, President

I was invited to be a panel member of “Taking Environmental Technologies to Market: SBIR EPA and People, Prosperity & the Planet (P3) Special Session” at TechConnect 2016, Washington, DC. EPA’s P3 Program is a unique college competition for designing solutions for a sustainable future. The panel included the P3 Program Manager, an i-Corps provider, April Richards – EPA SBIR Program Director, a current P3 participant, a successful company that started with P3, and Foresight as the Commercialization Assistance Provider. The “story line” was presented as: P3 for the development of ideas, i-Corps for validation by end-users, EPA SBIR for funding assistance, and Foresight for Commercialization Strategy and Support.

The audience was primarily made up of small and large business representatives, laboratory researchers, government representatives and other entrepreneurs. One of the key elements of a market entry strategy as presented by Foresight is the “insertion” of the technology into the supply chain that serves the target market. Questions from the audience focused on this issue among others. “How do you identify the supply chain?” The primary approach is to ask your end-users in the target market. How they learn about and acquire technologies for their use or integration is the key. Starting at the end and working backwards often works to identify the supply chain. For example: If you were to ask a drinking water provider or lab technician they may indicate that they acquire a sensor technology as an integrated feature of a testing instrument or system. Moving backwards along the supply chain the instrument/system manufacturer may indicate that they acquire sensors and not sensor technologies so that they can offer a range of solutions. In this case the sensor technology must be integrated as a packaged device before it may be applied. Power conditioning, software, interface, packaging, etc. may be required before the technology can be called a “sensor.” Therefore, the supply chain insertion point is with the sensor manufacturers.

The successful 3P company validated this approach. By the way, this company is a past awardee of the EPA SBIR program and a client of Foresight. They emphasized the need to continually reach out to the supply chain participants as the technology development progressed. It takes diligence and persistence that paid off for this company.

By: Norton Kaplan, Foresight President & COO

I attended the FLC National Meeting this year which was hosted in Chicago. While there, I was engaged in an interesting conversation concerning the shrinking budgets of some of the Government Labs and the effect it has on technology licensing. The conversation included a Government Lab Manager, a Government Lab Technology Transfer Manager, an industry based Technology Transitioning Director, and me. The conversation began with the importance of providing technical support and guidance to the prospective licensee for the technology that is to be the subject of the licensing agreement. Everyone agrees that without this technical support for an immature lab technology the likelihood of a licensing agreement greatly decreases. The Lab Manager has used the goodwill of the innovators and inventors to support this effort. BUT those that manage the funding of the labs have put a stop to this practice as it is not included in the budgeted activities of the lab. This particular agency is not allowed to offer reimbursable services to the private sector so charging for these support services is not considered. The TT Manager also does not have discretionary funds for this important support function. A partial answer comes from the industry based Technology Transitioning Director. Their business model is to license promising technologies from the lab, hire the lab PI, raise VC and angel funding and then create a spinout company. The technical and commercial risks are not fully mitigated in this model although it is a step in the right direction. With the unmitigated risks the outside funding is often difficult to raise and at times costs the spinout company a substantial portion of the ownership stake making it less desirable for the PI to participate. The Foresight “spinup” model addresses the technical risk aspect by utilizing government funding sources (i.e. SBIR) to mature the technology before out licensing the technology to an industry participant. This makes it more viable and attractive from a business perspective with less risk. This model provides a pathway for the Government Technology to enter the private sector, provides a career alternative for the lab PI, supports the research and commercialization objectives of Government and other funding organization, and adds to the growth of the economy. Win, Win, Win!