Commercialization Partners (or "CPs") collaborate with TLA, providing expert feedback and perspective regarding new technologies developing at U of A. TLA staff maximize the alignment between each individual Commercialization Partner's personal talents and goals and the leadership needed to pull each unique technology into the marketplace. Scroll down to meet our current Commercialization Partners.
What's Involved with the Commercialization Partner Role?
Tech Launch Arizona is dedicated to greater cohesion between the University of Arizona and the technology business community to significantly enhance the impact of UA research, intellectual property and technological innovations. To support the growing rate of early-stage technology commercialization and entrepreneurship across the University, TLA established the Commercialization Partners program, a group of seasoned entrepreneurs, executives, investors and technology experts who share their insights and experience to help advance the UA commercialization activities.
Commercialization Partners (CPs) collaborate with TLA on a regular basis to provide support in assessing early-stage technologies, evaluating funding opportunities, advising startups, and helping make industry connections. CPs also serve as champions for TLA, creating new connections and opportunities for collaboration, and keeping the community informed on TLA activities. In exchange, CPs are given first looks at new research, emerging inventions, and startups; access to a cohort of like-minded executives; and an opportunity to contribute both to the University of Arizona’s commercialization efforts and the economic development of the region. Some CP members focus their engagement on finding their next startup opportunity and may choose to participate for a limited period of time or only in specific activities.
There are a variety of ways a CP may engage with TLA, including:
Commercialization Roundtable
Early technology assessment
Market assessment
Asset development
Startup executive leadership
Startup board member
Strategic startup discussions
NSF I-Corps mentoring
Pitch practice sessions
Pitch reviews
Community networking events
UA campus outreach activities
Lab tours with faculty
Customer connections and introductions
Leadership and advisory connections
Some of these activities are described in more detail below:
Commercialization Roundtable: A monthly meeting with CPs, licensing managers, venture development team members, and mentors-in-residence to discuss new technologies and potential commercialization pathways. The purpose of the Commercialization Roundtable is to harness the expertise of Commercialization Partners to help inventors, founders, and TLA staff prioritize investment of time, funding, or resources in a technology; determine what is needed to advance a technology toward licensing or startup formation; and position the technology for the market.
Early-stage technology assessment: In addition to discussion at Commercialization Roundtable, CPs may be invited to review Commercialization Assessment Reports (CAR) to provide an industry or market perspective.
Asset development: TLA manages a $1 million Asset Development fund to support the movement of UA research and innovations toward commercialization readiness. Projects include proof of concept, feasibility studies, scalability tests, or deep market or regulatory dives, and must be focused on advancing the asset towards a license. An average award is around $40,000. Funds may not be used for startup and business development. Proposals and project updates are reviewed during the Commercialization Roundtable.
Startup leadership: CPs can serve in various startup roles: they can offer input during brainstorming or strategic planning discussions with startup teams; they might serve in board roles; they can serve as business support for inventors; or, they can serve as a startup interim CEO. Every project in the TLA startup pipeline should have a CP engaged from the outset, and the Mentor in Residence (MIR) leads this effort.
NSF I-Corps program engagement: CPs often serve as an I-Corps team mentor, allowing them to work more closely with a startup team over a 6-week period on customer discovery. CPs are invited to the final team presentations at the conclusion of each NSF I-Corps cohort to provide feedback and celebrate successes.
Events and campus activities: CPs are invited to participate in community and campus outreach efforts, and may be invited to present depending on the nature of the event. CPs also have the opportunity to tour faculty labs and learn more about research and innovation happening on campus.
Communication: CPs receive a monthly update, which includes a list of startup team needs. CPs also receive newly licensed startup announcements and investor news.
Commercialization Partners are appointed on a rolling basis throughout the fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). In June of each year, TLA staff will reach out to Commercialization Partners to discuss whether they wish to continue their service. As volunteers, you may wish to end your role, and an annual check-in allows TLA to gauge your interest, while also ensuring that your information is up to date. If you wish to leave your role prior to the summer check-in, please just reach out to Commercialization Network Coordinator Paul Valdez at paulv@tla.arizona.edu.
As a Commercialization Partner, you play a key role in shaping the direction and outcomes of U of A technologies. Accordingly, you will be asked to sign a TLA Commercialization Partner Acknowledgement that outlines the following expectations:
Uphold Professional Standards
Adhere to the TLA Community Guidelines maintaining high ethical and professional conduct in all relationships, communications, and actions.
Disclose Potential Conflicts
Inform TLA leadership of any external engagements related to U of A activities that could present a real or perceived conflict of interest.
Report Startup Interests
Promptly disclose any intent to hold a management, fiduciary, or financial interest in a U of A startup. Such involvement requires TLA approval and a conflict management plan.
Avoid Fee-Based Promotion
Refrain from promoting paid mentoring or related services.
Advance Projects
Champion assigned projects by building teams, guiding development and growth strategies, and facilitating partnerships and connections.
Support the TLA Mission
Actively promote TLA’s mission and contribute to a positive, collaborative, and success-oriented culture.
Description
This monthly 1.5-hour meeting of Commercialization Partners and TLA staff takes place on the second Monday of each month from September to May. Roundtable does not meet during the summer months of June, July and August.
The purpose of the Commercialization Roundtable is to utilize the broad and specific expertise of Commercialization Partners to help inventors, founders and TLA staff:
Prioritize investment of time, funding, or resources in a technology
Determine what is needed to advance a technology toward licensing or startup formation
Position the technology for the market
Feedback is gathered through discussion during the meeting and afterward through a quick online survey, the results of which are shared with TLA staff to assist in making funding and resourcing decisions.
Desired outcomes of the meeting include, but are not limited to:
Developing community and connections among the Commercialization Partners.
Enhancing connections among Commercialization Partners and TLA Staff, such as licensing managers or venture development managers, with the goal of engaging in post-roundtable meetings with inventors and founders. At these follow-up meetings, CPs have the opportunity to offer guidance on topics such as opportunity assessment, market discovery, commercial strategy, business modeling, startup formation, team development, fundraising strategy, industry engagement, product development, go-to-market guidance, etc.
Connecting with TLA staff to learn more about opportunities for deeper engagement with TLA, the U of A, and/or startups.
The Commercialization Partner joining a startup team in a formal role as an employee or an informal role as an advisor. (Reminder: CPs must disclose to TLA any intent to have a management or fiduciary/financial interest in a U of A startup.)
Types of Requests and Presentations
Asset Development Request
Tech Launch Arizona's Asset Development funding helps advance inventions that aren’t yet ready to attract licensees or investors. Asset Development (AD) projects often involve efforts such as creating a prototype, confirming functionality, or exploring scalability. When inventors apply for AD funds, they outline the unmet need their technology addresses in the marketplace, the current intellectual property position, initial market opportunity assessment, barriers to entry, anticipated outcomes and impacts, a budget plan and the project timeline. TLA produces a Commercial Assessment Report (CAR) for each technology, providing a description of the technology; an overview of market size, segmentation, and growth potential; a survey of competing products; a list of potential licensees; and relevant patents and publications.
During the Commercialization Roundtable, these requests, along with supporting documentation (AD Decision Criteria and Commercial Assessment Report), are presented by the associated Licensing Manager and Inventor with the following general goals.
Receiving general feedback from CPs, Mentors in Residence, and TLA staff to help identify potential applications of the technology, challenge assumptions about application and markets, bring to light potential barriers, and to provide guidance to inventors on how to make their technology more competitively positioned for commercialization.
Identifying Commercialization Partners interested in getting more involved by providing industry- or skill-based expertise. Involvement may include participating in a follow-up meeting to learn more, committing to a specific timeframe to assist the group with a specific task, or expressing interest in the follow-up survey after each roundtable.
Asset Development Final Report
Final report presentations focus on reporting work accomplished by inventors that has resulted from asset development projects. In this presentation, inventors and their Licensing Manager recap the technology and details of their commercialization progress. When these reports are on the agenda, CPs will receive the associated AD Request Proposal and Commercialization Assessment Report (CAR) to review prior to the meeting. During the meeting, inventors and licensing managers present any specific feedback or connection requests. In some cases, no specific asks are made because presenting the final report fulfills an Asset Development requirement for the inventor.
Startup Hub Requests
Through the Startup Hub we connect high-tech entrepreneurs with promising inventions and startups. This open-access online database presents current U of A technologies and teams looking to fulfill specific needs such as business leadership, founders/co-founders, collaborators, and partnerships. When a Startup Hub case is presented on the Commercialization Roundtable agenda, it is an opportunity for CPs to offer feedback and consider serving as business leadership, co-founders, collaborators, or partners. Asks for these types of requests may look like the following:
Technology X is looking for introductions to people with experience selling into hospital systems to do customer discovery interviews as part of their I-Corps participation.
Technology X is looking for feedback on whether our buyer should be the lab director or the procurement team.
Technology X is looking for someone willing to spend 2 to 3 hours per month for the next 90 days helping us refine a go-to market strategy.
Technology X is looking for a co-founder to establish a startup around this technology.
Incubation Requests
TLA also provides incubation services for selected U of A affiliated startups. While the incubator does not take equity or directly invest, it maintains deep connections to capital pathways. Founders are positioned for early engagement with the Wildcat Seed Fund, the University of Arizona’s pre-seed investment vehicle, as well as the Wildcat Investor Network and external venture capital partners. We prepare startups to enter real conversations with aligned investors. Incubation Request discussions at the roundtable focus on providing feedback for a specific strategic activity for the startup. Examples may include but are not limited to pitch practice for a venture capital competition or a milestone update from an incubator company.
Format of Meeting
Pre-meeting
Prior to each Commercialization Roundtable, TLA staff is constantly working with inventors and founders to identify who is ready to present to the CPs. Once a team is identified, the steps follow the following timeline:
11 days before the monthly meeting, TLA staff submits their requests for a technology or startup to be on the next roundtable agenda.
1 week before the monthly meeting, the roundtable agenda is finalized.
Wednesday before the monthly meeting, all materials and agenda are emailed to the CP community.
At the Roundtable on the 2nd Monday of the month, Commercialization Partners come to the meeting having reviewed all the documents and arrive prepared with questions and comments.
Meeting day
What can participants expect at each Roundtable meeting?
Lunch will be available at 11:45 am for in-person attendees. Typically 25 to 30 people attend, so plan to arrive early and get your lunch so we are ready to start promptly at 12 noon.
The ZOOM link will be available at 11:45 am for those participating online to login early.
Meetings start promptly at 12 noon with introductions of new staff, new commercialization partners, and guests.
3 to 4 presentations are scheduled for each meeting. Presentations are 10 minutes long with 10 minutes available for Q&A and feedback. The meeting is closely managed to allow equal time for every presenting team.
Meetings end promptly at 1:30 pm, but-person guests are invited to stay and network with inventors and TLA staff until 2:00 pm.
Post-meeting
Immediately after the meeting, a feedback survey is sent for each presentation. The survey collects general feedback to help guide inventors and TLA team members towards strategic commercialization decisions.
The survey also allows CPs to indicate their desire for greater involvement with specific teams or technologies. Upon receipt, TLA then reaches out to facilitate these connections.
One of the primary goals of these meetings is to generate opportunities for CPs to connect with inventors and TLA staff to explore more targeted ways to provide expertise and support to inventing teams.
The university is generously supported by Designated Campus Colleagues (DCCs), which include affiliates, associates, volunteers, and interns who contribute their time, services, and expertise to help the university accomplish its missions of teaching, research, and service. It is not required that Commercialization Partners apply for DCC Status. It is a choice we leave up to you.
Commercialization Partners are categorized as DCC Associates, who are individuals such as unpaid faculty, researchers, visiting scholars, dissertation committee special members, and others who are regularly engaged in activities that directly support the University’s teaching and research mission. If you wish to request DCC status, please contact Commercialization Network Coordinator, Paul Valdez at paulv@tla.arizona.edu.
With the Associate designation, you are entitled to the following benefits once your DCC paperwork and status is completed:
CatCard ($25 production fee)
University of Arizona email address
Building access (if needed)
Eligible to purchase a campus parking pass
University Library privileges* limited to the scope of your role with the university
Options for Campus Recreation Center Membership
Access to the Microsoft 365 cloud using an A1 license. This includes applications like Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and more. To access software visit the UofA Microsoft 365 Portal.
Google Apps (Supported through your UA Email account as part of Microsoft 365)
Box Online File Storage Account - Download Box Drive here https://www.box.com/resources/downloads. Run the application and choose SSO to sign in with UA NETID/password.
Zoom Pro Account - Go to https://arizona.zoom.us. Click Sign in in the upper right corner and use your UA NetID/password
Adobe Creative Cloud - Visit this website to request your license
*LIBRARY PRIVILEGES – Library-licensed information resources are expressly licensed to support the University’s educational, research, and outreach mission and many licenses do not allow for commercial use or use by those outside of the University. As such, DCCs who are granted library privileges and who use licensed information must be limited to information needs that arise through their work for and partnerships with the University. Eligible DCCs may check out books, journals, and other library provisioned materials with their CatCard and most online information resources can be accessed either on campus or by logging in with their assigned UA NetID and password.
How do I get involved?
Join the Commercialization Partner Team
Our cohort of Commercialization Partners is always growing and changing with our needs, so if you are interested, we appreciate your reaching out – as well as your patience – in advance as we work to find the best way for you to plug in. Want to learn more about engaging with TLA as a Commercialization Partner?
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