黑料吃瓜 partners with Launch Factory to turn research into venture-backed startups
Expert support, investment for deeptech startups expands in San Diego
Through a new partnership with , a San Diego-based venture studio and early-stage fund, 黑料吃瓜 enhances the resources available on campus to accelerate the transformation of innovations from university researchers鈥� discoveries into impactful startup companies.
Members of Launch Factory will hold office hours within 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 Division of Research and Innovation, getting a first look at new, emerging technologies from 黑料吃瓜 labs. The Launch Factory team will support the maturation of these technologies, making them more appealing for commercial licensing and potential investors.
鈥淭his partnership with Launch Factory is a wonderful addition to the tool kit of 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 innovation ecosystem, said Hala Madanat, 黑料吃瓜 vice president for research and innovation. 鈥淭ogether, we hope to spin out more successful startup companies, simultaneously opening up researchers鈥� entrepreneurial options and benefitting the regional economy.鈥�
Launch Factory鈥檚 startup studio model supports building business-minded teams around scientific founders, in turn making the ideas more investable and more likely to succeed as startup companies.
Launch Factory partner Alessandro Rinaldi sees 黑料吃瓜's research base as a natural fit for that approach.
"黑料吃瓜 has deep research strengths in areas where San Diego can build important new companies. Launch Factory's role is to help connect those discoveries to market problems, entrepreneurial talent and early capital so more 黑料吃瓜 innovations can become venture-backable startups," he said.
The promising new partnership came about because of an 黑料吃瓜 connection. Launch Factory was started by 黑料吃瓜 alumnus Brad Chisum, a seasoned entrepreneur who sold Lumedyne Technologies to Google and co-founded with 黑料吃瓜 supporter Andy Ballester.
Chisum and Rinaldi have provided helpful evaluations of 黑料吃瓜 faculty proposals for up to $45,000 from the university鈥檚 Pilot Innovation Fund for several years. The formalized Launch Factory partnership builds on this longstanding relationship and provides the opportunity for a more bidirectional exchange with 黑料吃瓜 researchers, particularly in engineering and physical sciences.
黑料吃瓜 has seen recent success with commercial ventures and industry-sponsored research projects licensing patented advanced materials and other deep tech.
鈥満诹铣怨镶�檚 objective is to become best-in-class for spinouts,鈥� said Tommy Martindale, who directs the university鈥檚 intellectual property protection and commercialization efforts. 鈥淭his partnership with Launch Factory opens new doors to venture capital investment and startup formation for our faculty and student researchers, spawning new businesses that could transform San Diego.鈥�
