During fiscal years 2019 and 2020, Carolina inventors turned an increasing number of ideas from their labs into inventions, patents, technologies and startups that translate into commercial products and services.
The number of inventions and discoveries developed and moved into the commercial market by faculty and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is on the rise, according to a new commercialization impact report. The report “From Ingenuity to Impact” examines the economic and social impact made during fiscal years 2019 and 2020 by University inventors who work to translate the University’s $1.14 billion research portfolio into products and services that contribute to the public good.
Findings from the report illustrate that the University’s innovation activity involving inventions reported, U.S. patents issued and technologies licensed to industry and faculty IP-based startups continued to expand over the most recent two fiscal years. The report was published by the UNC Office of Technology Commercialization as part of Innovate Carolina, the University-wide initiative for innovation and entrepreneurship at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Comparing the most recent five-year period (FY16-20) to the previous five-year period (FY11-15) shows a:
In addition, during the past two most recent fiscal years (FY2019 and FY2020), Carolina faculty, staff and students have created 14 new startup companies based on intellectual property, raising the total of IP-based startups launched by Carolina founders to 135 and the number of total UNC-affiliated startups overall to 731 ventures. The startups data is based on Innovate Carolina’s Startups Impact Database, which tracks the activity and economic impact of the University’s startups tracing back to 1958.
This bi-annual report, which covers fiscal years 2019 and 2020, reviews how innovators at UNC-Chapel Hill moved an increasing number of inventions to the commercial market in order to create social, scientific and economic impact.
Download report“Through their curiosity, inventiveness and perseverance, Carolina innovators are bringing an increasing number of discoveries that are based on intellectual property and developed in the University’s labs into the commercial market, where they advance the public good,” said Judith Cone, vice chancellor for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development at UNC-Chapel Hill. “By turning their ideas and research into technologies and ventures that generate new jobs and revenue for North Carolina citizens and people around the world, our inventors make a significant economic impact, which is particularly critical during the challenging pandemic period. Many of these technologies and ventures emerge from the University’s expertise in life sciences and become new devices, diagnostics, treatments and cures that help people live longer, healthier and more productive lives.”
The report also details the economic impact of UNC-Chapel Hill’s startups and describes the human impact made by a variety of its ventures.
As of end of the latest fiscal year (June 2020), data on UNC-affiliated ventures show:
Noted within the report are several new and expanding initiatives that accelerate innovations to market at UNC-Chapel Hill:
The Institute for Convergent Science pilot program, which includes the renovation of more than 20,000 square feet of lab and collaboration space in the Genome Sciences Building to mobilize diverse teams of researchers, designers, experts and entrepreneurs on solving complex problems faster.
KickStart Accelerator is a wet lab accelerator run by KickStart Venture Services provides startup space, programing and services in the Genome Science Building adjacent to the Institute of Convergent Science space. Faculty working on life science startups can apply to join the accelerator, which helps them establish and grow their young companies on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Four companies have already joined the accelerator since December, with several additional startups planning to move into the space within the next month. As of June 2020, KickStart has provided consulting and $2.5 million to 94 companies since 2009. The companies have gone one to raise over $72.9 million in federal SBIR/STTR grants and $862 million in total funding to date.
Pinnacle Hill, the company created through a partnership between UNC-Chapel Hill and Deerfield Management in 2018, has now funded two faculty projects. In 2019, Pinnacle Hill announced its first project agreement to support the work of Lindsey James, PhD, an assistant professor in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy who is focused on finding breakthrough treatments for multiple myeloma. In June 2020, the company began working with Ben Philpot, PhD, Kenan Distinguished Professor and associate director of the UNC Neuroscience Center in the School of Medicine. Philpot’s research aims to develop a treatment for Angelman syndrome.
UNC-Chapel Hill startup investor programs continue to invest in startups during the coronavirus pandemic period. As of June 2020, the Carolina Angel Networkg, which is the only official angel network for startups and ventures connected to UNC-Chapel Hill, had invested $12.2 million in 19 companies across 27 investment rounds, including several companies during the COVID-19 economic downturn. Carolina Research Ventures continues to help fill the funding gap for faculty founders. With initial committed capital of $10 million from the UNC Health system, as of June, the fund had invested in eight companies since its inception. Two of these have been realized with attractive rates of return. In 2019, the University and UNC Health system committed an additional $10 million to the fund.
The report details the work of several Carolina startup ventures with strong commercial traction. These include companies that are working on a variety of innovations:
Download the full report. For more information, please contact Brock Pierce or Shellie Edge from Innovate Carolina.