The iBridge Network was founded in 2005 by the Kauffman Foundation's Kauffman Innovation Network as a web-based network for the gathering of and dissemination of innovations such as research results, reports, innovations, intellectual property, and patents. The network aggregates research materials, technologies, and discoveries on the site, providing innovation seekers with access to university-developed innovations, leading to further advances and next-generation products and services. In today's current environment, innovation and collaboration are critically important to driving economic recovery and the iBridge Network provides the tools, resources and relationship opportunities to ensure tangible outcomes. Today, it has become a global leader as an innovation catalyst with a vibrant, online community enabling universities, companies and entrepreneurs to connect, collaborate and license tomorrow's research, products and services. Many of the nation's leading research institutions utilize the iBridge Network regularly to promote, share and advance their innovations and identify appropriate partners. Since its inception, the Network has grown to over 10,000 members and 22,000 innovations from over 169 universities and research organizations.
In 2013, seven years after launching and supporting the iBridge Network, the Kauffman Foundation handed the reins to the Innovation Accelerator Foundation, based in Omaha, to take the web platform and community to the next stage of growth. The Innovation Accelerator is a public-private partnership with a federal agency whose mission is to promote the nation's economic competitiveness in the global economy by promoting innovation. As with other programs it supports, the Kauffman Foundation is continually seeking the most effective ways to make the biggest impact and the Innovation Accelerator Foundation was a natural choice to take the iBridge Network to the next level.
Learn more about iBridge at: www.ibridgenetwork.org
