Purdue initiative to create ‘front door’ to commercialization
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Purdue University and the Purdue Research Foundation have launched a new system to strengthen the commercialization and entrepreneurship foundation the university has built over decades.
Purdue Innovates is a network of resources designed to streamline access and support for commercialization of intellectual property developed by faculty, students and alumni, as well as startup creation.
“We knew there were many Purdue technologies and Purdue-connected startups that can really make a difference in the world, and we really wanted to do them justice and do everything we possibly could to help them succeed,” said Brooke Beier, senior vice president of Purdue Innovates.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Beier said the initiative creates a “front door” to the commercialization and startup creation ecosystem.
“We really think that through this effort, we’ve streamlined access and strengthened the support to both sides of those, the tech commercialization and the startup resources, including programs and funds to launch scale and invest in those startups into a cohesive structure,” Beier said.
The initiative brings all of the university’s teams together under one umbrella, including the Purdue Office of Technology and Commercialization, Incubator, Startup Foundry, and Purdue Ventures.
Purdue said the network builds on the university’s already strong innovation ecosystem, which includes being ranked No. 6 in the world for the number of issued U.S. utility patents in 2022. Additionally, since the creation of the Purdue Foundry in 2013, the university said it has helped launch more than 350 companies, which raised more than $877 million.
“This reorganized ecosystem will really make it easy for all those Purdue innovators and alumni to find the early stage funding and support to make sure these startups and technology succeed, whether it’s via scaling, licensing or being acquired,” Beier said. “It will also connect them with the Boilermaker alumni network.”
Beier said the early reaction to the launch of Purdue Innovates from faculty and students has been positive, but it’s the reaction from alumni that has been most surprising.
“The surprising thing has been the number of startups that we hadn’t been engaged with in the past that we knew were Purdue alumni,” she said. “By announcing this and really embracing all Boilermakers and making it known that we want to assist them wherever they are, whether they’re on campus or whether they’re across the globe, it’s been surprising how many have reached back out.”
Among the goals for Purdue Innovates, according to Beier, are continuing to hit record-setting numbers for invention disclosures and issued patents, as well as the number of technologies licensed.
On the startup creation side, she said the university wants to improve the number of Purdue-connected companies that have raised Series A funding, as well as increasing the number of opportunities for Purdue students to be hired as interns and employees at Purdue-connected startups.
“We want those students to get exposed to entrepreneurship early on in their careers at Purdue, and not think of it more as an afterthought once they leave campus but have those opportunities while they’re here,” she said.
Looking long-term, Beier said officials want to see more Purdue technologies on the market and more Purdue-connected startups turning into enterprises or having successful exits.
“Ultimately, we hope to become recognized as a preeminent university for technology commercialization and startup scaling.”
You can learn more about Purdue Innovates by clicking here.
The launch of Purdue Innovates came just days after Indiana University unveiled a similar initiative, IU Innovates, which is designed to be a network to help faculty and students across IU’s statewide footprint to accelerate their ideas and turn them into products and services that can go to market more quickly.