COE Grants to be Given to Licensees
| February 26, 2008 |  View for printing |
New technologies are moving out of the lab and into industry with the help of the Centers of Excellence (COE) program. The COE program provides grant funding to develop technologies at local colleges and universities, with the goal being to bring jobs to Utah. The COE program is set to receive some changes beginning in July 2008, which were highlighted during a meeting held by the Utah Technology Council last week.
According to Nicole Toomey Davis, director of the COE program, the main change to the program is that grants will now be given directly to licensees instead of professors. “In the past, funding went to university professors to do the work in the lab. We found that once the technology left the lab, the technology had a hard time getting funding,” Davis says. “The modification of the COE program will help technologies, which are viewed as high risk get the opportunity to mature through a direct industry link.”
By giving the grant to the licensee, the COE program will count on the company to interest angel investors and venture capitalists, and to eventually take the technology to market. “Angels don’t want to invest in breakthrough technology [because they’re often risky] and venture firms only want to invest later,” Davis says. “We want to work as a stepping stone to help the technology find success. The grants are intended to defray the real and perceived risks of taking technology to market. We’re really trying to align the incentives of the business community with the incentives of the university community, and trying to get these technologies out there.”
by Sarah Ryther Francom
Full Story: http://www.utahbusiness.com/parser.p ... cle_id=6794
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