Tech Launch Arizona Breaks Records for UA in Third Full Year of Operations

Aug. 1, 2016

Tucson, Ariz. – The technology commercialization office of the University of Arizona, Tech Launch Arizona, reports that it had an outstanding year during FY 2016 (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016) and that UA inventor engagement in technology commercialization activities has attained all-time highs as evidenced by key performance indicators. In addition to technology commercialization, the Tech Parks Arizona component of TLA finished FY 2016 with record accomplishments, as well.

Missing file.

“I am incredibly proud of the achievements that Tech Launch Arizona has had since its start with the advent of Vice President Dr. David Allen in September 2012,” says University of Arizona President Dr. Ann Weaver Hart. “With almost 800 inventions disclosed, 30 startups from UA research, a growing ecosystem of technical experts, business partners, faculty, students, and staff, TLA is helping to set a strong foundation for the University of Arizona's continuing social and economic impact.”

Record Numbers

Technology commercialization is a continuation of the research process. Advances in science, technology and medicine often produce opportunities for discoveries and research findings to be applied in a commercial setting and made available to the general public. The process starts with the disclosure of inventions and culminates with products created by companies that license UA intellectual property.

All told, TLA has achieved record increases since its inception nearly four years ago. For the period between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, TLA reports the following:

  • 250 invention disclosures, up from 213 in 2015 and 188 in 2014.
  • 278 UA patents filed, up from 200 in 2015 and 188 in 2014.
  • 95 total executed options and licenses, up from 83 in 2015 and 86 in 2014. (Updated 9/30/16, see below.)
  • 14 startups licensing UA technologies, up from 12 in 2015 and 11 in 2014.
  • 27 asset development projects funded, up from 17 in 2015 and 17 in 2014.

“The performance increases are strong proof that UA technology commercialization has attained a turnaround and the future for impact from UA research and inventive activity is promising,” says Vice President Allen. “The results also show that the TLA approach of integrating the Tucson community and UA alumni can bring technology domain knowledge and entrepreneurial experience to extend the fundamental inventive work of UA faculty.”

Startups

The 14 startups – new companies based on IP generated from UA research – formed in FY 2016 include:

National Science Foundation I-Corps Program

This year, TLA was selected as an NSF I-Corps Site, a program which provides individual project grants up to $2,250 to help entrepreneurial teams with innovative technologies identify their customers and get to know those prospective customers’ priorities. In total, the NSF grant provides TLA with annual funding for three years to distribute to 30 selected I-Corps applicant teams each year. Teams typically consist of an inventor/academic lead, an entrepreneurial lead, and a business mentor. The first cohort of seven teams completed the I-Corps curriculum in May, and a second cohort of ten teams began the I-Corps program on June 24.

Tech Parks Arizona

FY 2016 was another strong year for Tech Parks Arizona. The year was characterized by strong tenant demand and fulfillment at the UA Tech Park. Tech Parks Arizona has aligned its economic development activities with the University’s research strengths in fields like advanced energy; mining technology; defense and security; bioscience; and agriculture arid lands and water. It also spans multiple industry sectors such as sustainability, optics and imaging, advanced manufacturing and informatics. Key accomplishments for FY2016 include:

  • The Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI), a business incubator that operates as part of Tech Parks Arizona, served 15 new clients startup companies in FY2016. AzCI also executed a statewide conference which helped inventors understand SBIR/STTR programs in order to access government funding for startups. The two-day conference brought industry representatives from across the nation to educate and meet individually with entrepreneurs.
  • The Solar Zone at the UA Tech Park, one of the largest multi-technology solar demonstration sites in the United States, completed Phase One, power generation, with ten companies testing and demonstrating a variety of solar technologies and generating 23 megawatts of power which is fed directly into the power grid. An additional 29 acres of land for testing and demonstration were made available at the Solar Zone as well.
  • Tech Parks Arizona operationalized the Global Advantage business attraction program, an international business attraction strategy. Through the program, TPA recruits businesses to the Tech Park by providing a business support program that offers market access assistance, business development, manufacturing assistance and product development. The team led recruitment trips to Israel and Germany, and executed client agreements with companies from Canada, Israel and Mexico.
  • The UA Tech Park’s total impact on Arizona’s economy was $1.74 billion in 2015 and continues to be a major employment center in the region with 40 tenant companies that employ over 5,000 people. In 2015 the UA Tech Park companies created over 10,000 jobs in the regional economy including direct, indirect, and induced jobs. The vacancy rate is 5.5% and a total of 1,270,506 square feet are leased under the CRC leasehold. In FY2016, the UA Tech Park increased its tenancy by 1,189,753 square feet and added three additional tenants.

FY2017 is expected to bring the completion of Tech Parks Arizona’s funding strategy, along with finalization of the planning, design and initial construction activities for the Innovation and Technology Building at the UA Tech Park at The Bridges.

“The integration of the Tech Parks with Tech Launch Arizona has strengthened the University’s technology commercialization process over the past four years. This unification is allowing technology to advance rapidly by moving ideas from research to proof of concept to testing and validation and ultimately into the marketplace by providing the expertise, development platform, and resources necessary for a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem,” says Bruce Wright, Associate Vice President for Tech Parks Arizona.

Challenges & Opportunities

“As superb as the IP and licensing performance is, it represents a double-edged sword,” says Allen of the group's accomplishments. “On one hand, we are building inventor relationships and connections with technology and business expertise and bringing UA research into the commercial world at levels far exceeding UA’s past performance. On the other hand, we will be challenged to sustain a high level of activity in an increasingly austere financial environment for UA. The opportunity is for UA to become an ever bigger contributor to the regional innovation ecosystem and to be an even more significant force in the creation of new businesses and technology-related employment. I think we have shown that realization of that opportunity doesn’t occur by happenstance or without expense, but that positive progress can be made in a relatively short timeframe.”

Further details of the office’s performance for FY 2016 will be forthcoming in the Tech Launch Arizona annual report, targeted for release later in August 2016.

Photo: Often, great inventions start is ideas noted in University researchers' lab notebooks. (Photo credit: Paul Tumarkin/Tech Launch Arizona)

UPDATED, 9/12/2016: TLA has published its FY 2016 annual report, now available for download.

UPDATED, 9/30/16: The total number of executed licenses has been updated to 95 (originally reported as 97).

Contacts
Paul Tumarkin
pault@tla.arizona.edu
520-626-8770