The Idea Incubator Goes to Campus

“The public’s paying for all these wonderful innovations that are just sitting in the drawer because there’s no way for them to make the leap to the commercial world.”

By providing academics like Professor Hart a bridge to the business world, M.I.T. is in the vanguard of a movement involving a handful of universities nationwide that work closely with investors to ensure that promising ideas are nurtured and turned into successful start-ups.

At first glance, the centers look like academic versions of business incubators. But universities are getting involved now at a much earlier stage than incubators typically do. Rather than offering seed money to businesses that already have a product and a staff, as incubators usually do, the universities are harvesting great ideas and then trying to find investors and businesspeople interested in developing them further and exploring their commercial viability.

By BOB TEDESCHI

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/business/27incubate.html?hpw