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Workshop From Patent to Business
Holding Technopolis Twente (HTT)
The commercialization of university research: how does it work at the UT ?
Kees Eijkel, managing director HTT

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Start-ups and growers Innovative companies Inspiring Campus
Education, training, coaching Soft Landing
Business Development and IP
Financing networks Financing
SME portal to knowledge
R&D Open Innovation joint ventures
Equipment, labs, incubator services, entrepreneur/legal support
Area development
Events: interaction, collision: flow of talent, knowledge, money, information
Awareness, communication, positioning

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What is HTT ?
• Holding Technopolis Twente
• 100% owned by the University of Twente
• Acts as a Holding Company for shares in
companies for the University
– On the basis of transferred Intellectual Property
(IP) and rights
• Executive Management: Kees van Ast and
Kees Eijkel

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The formal situation
• IP owner is your employer
– UT (HTT acts for UT)
– Unless IP has been transferred upfront in
industrial contract
– STW aligns with UT approach if User
Committee does not use it rights
• IP is more than patents alone !
– Know-how, source codes, secrets, designs, etc.

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The Process of Commercialization
• Research
– Sometimes with third party rights
• Signaling possible opportunities
– YOU !, your research group, or business director of your
institute
• Developing the business case
– BusDev Team UT/Kennispark together with you, research
group and institute
• Transfering the business case
– To a company or start-up
– In trade for … ??

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Research: it all starts with your work
• Research
– Focused at academic excellence
– Sometimes coupled to external parties (with rights)
• Signaling the potential economic value of your
work: who plays a role ?
– YOURSELF ! In research, in signaling opportunities and perhaps in
commercialization
– Research group, Institute, BusDev Team
– Sometimes outside-in
• Sometimes some preparatory work possible
within research group for commercialization

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Developing the opportunity: BusDev
Team
• Business Development Team works at your
institute
• Coordinated by Kennispark
• Goal
– Select cases that look promising
– Maturization
– Making them ready for transfer
– Or dispose of them underway…
– Arrange things with research group, Institute, UT
– Arrange things with third parties (STW, Industry, EU, …)

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Transfer: to whom ?
• Existing industry
– License deal
– Sale of IP
– Using IP to attract new research projects
• New business
– Start-up
– Often in exchange for shares
• A start up has no money
• No clear valuation of IP yet

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Model
Systems
Integrators
Sustaining
Firms with dominant
Virtuous Virtuous
Factor Demand market share
Inputs Cycle
Niche players
Suppliers
*
D. Systems
Integrators Dominant firms: gate keeping
Entrepreneurial firms
Disruptive Disruptive Unmet Industrial losers
Factor Demand
Inputs
Cycle Progressive firms
from other industries
Emergent Suppliers (share instead of $$)

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Formal roles in the process
•Preparation of IP by BusDev Team, decision:
management HTT
•Transfer of IP by management HTT in alignment with
Managing Director of your Institute
•Often we transfer more than just formal IP
– Right to bid on future IP in field on interest
– Know-how
– Non-refrigerator clause
– Etc.

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How do we structure a deal ?
•Fair deal
– Competitors (market value)
– Tax payer (from public to private)
•Equal share of
– Mature IP basis
– Mature entrepreneurial team (with milestones !)
– Seed investment round
•Entrepreneurs and HTT: founder shares
•IT tends to have weaker IP position
•LS tends to have stronger IP position

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Revenues on IP
•Through shares of licenses
•Net results
– 1/3 patent fund and support
– 1/3 institute on behalf of research group
– 1/3 inventors

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HTT position
• Founder shares
• Interest of UT and research team
• Interest in growing jobs
• Ecosystem
• Targets for financial partner and exit
scenario in longer term (or from start)