Beyond Licensing and Incubators 
After years of studying how
innovation works (or fails to work) in and around universities, says Lesa Mitchell, Vice President, Advancing Innovation, the Kauffman Foundation is finding
emerging new solutions to accelerate innovation and commercialization at universities.
Finding Business Idols
While some pundits may be declaring the demise of the early stage VCs, some VCs and
angel investors are already displaying interest in a new form of contest-based
accelerator model of picking and grooming the next wave of potentially high growth
start-ups.
From Lab to Bench to Market: House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Improving Commercialization
Lesa Mitchell, the Kauffman Foundation's Vice President of Advancing Innovation offered testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology on how improving technology commercialization of government-funded research can drive economic growth and job creation. Mitchell spoke on several policy proposals and the Kauffman Foundation's current thinking on best practices in advancing technology commercialization.
HHS Secretary Sebelius Joins Health Care Leaders at Kauffman Foundation to Discuss New Roles in Drug Discovery and Development
Academic institutions across the United States are playing a critical role in developing life-saving treatments, procedures and innovations, and must be supported by a public policy agenda designed to foster continued growth and investment, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius told a gathering of leaders from the public and private sectors here today.
Huffington Post Op-Ed Highlights Translational Medicine Alliance
Kauffman Foundation vice president of advancing innovation Lesa Mitchell posted an opinion piece on the Huffington Post about a group of scientists, researchers, and philanthropists who have been working to bridge the gap between basic research and patient care. Mitchell's essay stresses the importance of advancing the movement of scientific breakthroughs in the lab to the market, and thus, to the patient.
Kauffman Foundation Commits $500,000 to Astia to Advance Women's Participation in High-Growth Entrepreneurship
While data show that women start more than 50 percent of all businesses, their participation in high-growth startups remains extremely low. In an effort to change this, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has announced a $500,000 grant to Astia, a premier business accelerator that works with women-led startups. The grant represents a commitment from both organizations to strategically work together to advance the participation of women in high-growth entrepreneurship.
Kauffman Foundation Experts' Solution for University Technology Licensing Reform Named to List of 'Ten Breakthrough Ideas for 2010' by Harvard Business Review
Creating an open, competitive licensing system for university innovators is one of Harvard Business Review's
"Ten Breakthrough Ideas for 2010" and the brainchild of researchers at
the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The free agency solution is one
of the 10 ideas that HBR says "will make the world better."
Kauffman Foundation joins with NSF and the Deshpande Foundation to form Innovation Corps Program
Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a new effort to help develop scientific and engineering discoveries into useful technologies, products and processes.
Kauffman Foundation Launches Online Energy Innovation Network to Help Scale New Energy Economy
With more than $80 billion already invested in U.S. clean energy development and another $150 billion being proposed, this emerging industry has been tagged as essential to jump-start the economy and create new jobs. Yet significant barriers plague this highly regulated, complex sector that prevent it from making the kind of progress that such high expectations demand.
New Standard Licensing Agreement Expedites University Startups, According to Kauffman Foundation Paper
A new licensing process for commercializing university research will support American universities' startup companies and enable long-term economic growth, according to a new paper released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. As universities are debating how best to expedite commercialization of research, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has developed the Carolina Express License Agreement, a standard licensing agreement to commercialize academic discoveries that promises to ease the formation of new companies and maintain American competitiveness by promoting new firm formation.
Second Annual ‘We Own It Summit’ Convenes in London to Explore Women’s Participation in High-Growth Enterprises
Astia, a premier venture accelerator that targets exceptional startups with women on their founding teams, today announced it will host the second annual We Own It Summit in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Imperial College Business School, Silicon Valley Bank, SNR Denton and NESTA. The Summit will take place at London’s Imperial College on June 9-10, 2011, and will feature Cherie Blair and Baroness Wilcox among its keynote speakers.
Winner Named in Global Desktop Factory Competition
The inventor of a machine that turns plastic pellets into affordable filaments for low-cost 3D printers is the winner of the first Desktop Fabrication Competition, a global contest sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation, Maker Education Initiative and Inventables.
