Financing Knowledge Transfer in Europe FinKT project
Transcript of Financing Knowledge Transfer in Europe FinKT project
Financing Knowledge Transfer in Europe
FinKT project
Federico Munari
Department of Management, Bologna University
EIBURS meeting, EIB
Luxembourg, 24 January 2013
Slide 1 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project
Objectives of the FinKT project
(“Financing Knowledge Transfer in Europe”)
Overall goal: analyse the financial instruments and the forms of partnerships
between financial investors and universities/PROs that can facilitate
technology transfer in Europe
The project is undertaken by the Department of Management of the
University of Bologna, in collaboration with Bocconi University (Duration: Mar
2012-Feb 2015)
The project is funded by the European Investment Bank, under the EIBURS
measure
Project website: finkt.unibo.it
Slide 2 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project
Structure of the FinKT project
» 4 Work-Packages on Research activities
WP 1: The institutional context for technology transfer and IP finance
in Europe: a multi-country comparison
WP 2: The determinants of IP exploitation of universities and PROs:
licensing, patent sale and start-ups
WP 3: The design and impact of financial instruments for technology
transfer
WP 4: Policy guidelines
» 2 Work-Packages on Training and dissemination activities
WP 5: Summer School
WP 6: Diffusion activities
Slide 3 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project
Empirical / methodological aspects
Extensive coverage:
Multi-country perspective: analysis of all the main European Member States which implemented
experiences of technology transfer financing;
Different mechanisms for technology transfer: sale and licensing of patents generated from
universities, and the creation of new academic spin-offs;
Different types of financial instruments: university seed funds, designed to provide equity
financing to new ventures stemming from universities, and patent-backed financial instruments,
such as proof-of-concept funds, IP and royalty funds, designed to valorize specific IP assets.
Combination of different methodological approaches:
econometric techniques on survey-data or newly developed datasets on venture-backed spin-offs
qualitative techniques, based on the realization of case-studies related to different experiences of
technology transfer financing
Slide 4 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project
WP1: The institutional context for technology transfer and IP
finance in Europe: a multi-country comparison
Review and updated map of university IPR laws and rules in the main
European countries
Assessment of the consequences for the involvement of financial investors in
technology transfer
Understanding incentive mechanisms of academics and researchers and the
diversity of institutional logics of industry work, that may represent barriers to
TT activities
Map and analysis of policy measures established in Europe to support TT
investing, with specific attention to: a) direct financial support (i.e. patent
subsidies); b) support for partnerships between universities and financial
investors (i.e. patent funds)
Slide 5 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project
WP2: The determinants of IP exploitation of universities and PROs:
licensing, patent sale and start-ups
Analyses of the determinants of different means for TT by universities and
PROs: patent licensing, patent sale, spin-offs (and commercialization in
products and processes).
Assessment of the differential impact of relevant factors on joint or
alternative means for TT
Determinants of willingness to TT vs. actual decisions of TT: assessment of
obstacles and facilitating factors for IP markets
Many unused patents, but willing to be used: how to exploit these patents?
What are the barriers/difficulties to access technology markets? Higher
barriers to licensing than spin-offs?
Assessment of the impact of type of funding and partnerships on intentions
and actual decisions of patent licensing, patent sale and spin-offs
The commercialization of patents by university and PROs – an analysis based
on data from the Patval II survey
• Objectives
• Understand whether and how the ownership of IPRs by
universities and PROs affect their subsequent commercialization
by considering three exploitation routes:
• Patent sales
• Licensing
• Spin-off formation
• Empirical evidence from a sample of 1297 EPO patents with
inventors employed by universities and PROs in 23 countries
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Ownership patterns of University/PRO patents
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Authors Giuri and Munari, 2012 Giuri and Munari, 2012 Crespi et al., 2010
N. Countries 23 6 6
Priority dates 2003-2005 2003-2005 1993-1997
% University Owned 44% 45% 18%
% University Invented 56% 55% 82%
% PRO Owned 76% 85% 42%
% PRO Invented 24% 15% 58%
1. With respect to the paper by Crespi et al, (2010), we find a
significant increase in the shares of patents owned by universities
and PROs
Patent ownership and commercialization outcomes: descriptive statistics
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All patents Sale License Spin-off External Use
University/PRO Owned 8.32% 27.59% 14.54% 35.89%
University/PRO Invented 13.15% 17.95% 15.93% 34.85%
Total 10.32% 23.71% 15.13% 35.47%
Only University patents Sale License Spin-off External Use
University Owned 14.39% 36.98% 23.30% 48.43%
University Invented 15.02% 17.37% 15.21% 36.73%
Total 14.71% 27.29% 19.05% 42.69%
Only PRO patents Sale License Spin-off External Use
PRO Owned 2.21% 19.13% 5.71% 23.50%
PRO Invented 7.35% 17.39% 13.33% 25.81%
Total 3.40% 18.73% 7.50% 24.01%
Slide 9 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project
WP3:The design and impact of financial instruments
for technology transfer
Map and analysis of University Seed Funds established in Europe
» Study of the success rates of academic spin-offs backed by USFs, as
compared to other VC-backed new ventures.
» Analysis of the impact of the type of affiliation and investment strategies
of USFs
Map and classification of the proof-of-concept funds established in Europe
for technology transfer
» Understand under which conditions they can be effectively exploited
» Identify critical success factor in their design and implementation
Mapping University Seed Funds and Proof-of-concept Funds in Europe:
initial evidence (based on Thomson One and Internet searches)
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19
11
6 5
4 3 3
2 2 1 1 1 1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
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20
(n=59)
Distribution of USF
202
76
50 47 28
15 14 10 9 6 4 4 2 2 2 1
0
50
100
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250(n=472)
Distribution of companies
funded by USF
3 3 3
1 1 1
12
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
(n=24)
Distribution of PoC
funds
Slide 11 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project
WP4: Policy guidelines
Implications for Policy measures on:
• Financial support to universities and TTOs and partnerships between financial investors and universities
• Functioning of IP markets and participation of research organizations: analysis of impediments and facilitating factors, including financial instruments and supporting institutions
• Optimal structuring of university seed funds programs, setting up of patent-based financial instruments
• improving the organization of public-private partnerships between government and regional authorities, universities and research centers and financial institutions, aimed at enhancing technology transfer activities.
• improving the design and implementation of publicly-supported financial instruments to promote technology transfer
Slide 12 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project
Main training and dissemination activities
Workshop (1st year) for discussing the themes of the FinKT project with academics, invited experts in the field from Europe, including representatives of TTOs, financial intermediaries, EIB/EIF.
» Objective: insights from experts and assessment of the FinKT prokect activities, work in progress, preliminary results and future plans
workshop (2nd year) oriented to TTOs in Europe, financial intermediaries (including VC) and other institutions involved in TT operations
» Involvement of Netval, Proton and other relevant networks
Summer school on Economics and Management of IPRs (2nd year): directed to Phd students and other interested people, with the participation of academics expert in the field (including the FinKT team), EIB and other experts from relevant institutions (June 2013)
Organization of a parallel or plenary session within the 2013 EPIP conference on IP legal and regulatory system / financial instruments and TT
Final Conference (3rd year) on financing TT, with call for papers and a round table with invited policy makers
Contacts and project website
Project website: finkt.unibo.it
- Paola Giuri, [email protected]
- Federico Munari, [email protected]