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Venture catalyst overview
- 1. SkySong Overview • A42-acre mixed-business-use development located in Scottsdale, Ariz. • A public-private partnership • A joint venture with the university, city of Scottsdale, ASU Foundation and Plaza Companies • Home to a global business community • Links technology, entrepreneurship, innovation and education • Positions ASU and Greater Phoenix as global leaders of the knowledge economy • More than 800 tech-related jobs • 97 percent capacity • Buildings 3 & 4 in planning stages; 400 apartments under construction
- 2. • Designed to: –Create an ecology of collaboration and innovation – Target high-profile technology enterprises and related researchers – Advance global business objectives of on-site enterprises – Raise Arizona’s profile as a global center of innovation – Create a unique regional economic and social asset • Tenants range from large companies such as Ticketmaster to early-stage startups – over 70 companies • ASU SkySong, also known internally as Economic Development and Corporate Engagement (EDCE), – a unit of the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development, the research wing of the university. – Occupies two floors of SkySong Building 1 – Consists of three sub-units, including ASU Venture Catalyst SkySong Overview
- 3. ASU Venture CatalystOverview • Announced in October 2010 – Reorganized in June 2011 –Mission comes from the ‘Value Entrepreneurship’ design aspiration of the New American University • Tasked with a wider role of coordinating entrepreneurship across the university since Q4 2012 • Part of the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development (OKED) and works closely with AzTE (ASU’s technology transfer arm ) • ‘Startup unit’ of the university – Internal entrepreneurship activity (Edson student startups, faculty startups) – External startups (Furnace, External startups ) – Support the external startup ecosystem (collaboration e.g. Techiepalooza event) • Objective to accelerate high potential startups (HPSU) • Changing name to Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group (reflects wider remit) • Partnerships e.g. Microsoft alliance, members of Techstars Global Accelerator Network (GAN)
- 4. Entrepreneurship as aPermanent Revolution • Using ASU and Arizona as a ‘petri’ dish for Experimentation • Develop new concepts untried elsewhere • Aim to stimulate entrepreneurship activity inside and outside the university • Test and refine in Arizona • Then propagate these ideas in other cities, states, countries 4
- 7. ASU Edson StudentEntrepreneur Initiative (Startup Accelerator) Edson 2.0: • Program is funded through privately financed endowment from Edson family • Repositioned as an accelerator (mentor-led, Lean trained) in 2011 • Startup accelerator for student-run ventures (real company creation) • Acceleration period runs from September to June each year • Heavily mentor-led like other accelerator programs (university takes no equity) • Startups very diverse: social enterprises to apps to consumer products to sustainable technologies to manufacturing 2012/13 Cohort: • 338 team applications in last competition (April 2012) • Led to funding of twenty new student-led startups • These Startups received $200,000 in direct (endowed) funding (up to $20K each) • 2013 is the ninth year of the Edson program
- 8. Technology Transfer OfficePartners Funding Partners Furnace Technology Transfer Accelerator – first in the world Support Partners • ASU’s Tech Transfer unit, Arizona Technology Enterprises has spun-out over 60 startups in last 8 years; increases numbers each year but…a lot of technologies are still protected by unused • All research institutions have the same issue with a lack of external entrepreneurship activity with their patents • Furnace is designed to stimulate even more activity: • Take the best, unencumbered technologies from Arizona research institutions • Offer them to external entrepreneurs/mixed teams • Offer acceleration and $25K in grant funding each • Pilot in 2012 resulted in ten new startups: • Created a successful public/private partnership • Over 200 patents, copyrights uploaded to Furnace website (after ‘translation’) • Over 50 applications, 22 finalists, 10 chosen startup teams • Total of $250,000 in startup state grant funding awarded
- 9. ASU (External) StartupAccelerator • Moving from random external companies to a 6 months cohort system of 6-10 startups at a time • Includes a full pracademic program, mentor-led, co-working space in ASU SkySong • These companies are early stage but high potential startups (HPSU) • They do NOT have to have any connection to the University other than being based in the greater Phoenix area • Some companies are too early to engage – send to outside groups such as the SCORE (mentor group) • Objective – to create sustainable businesses to create jobs and wealth particularly for Arizona • Majority of the new startups are based in the dedicated co-working space in ASU SkySong • External startups working with us have raised $1.45 million in grants and venture funding since June 2011
- 11. Rapid Startup School(RSuS) – Pracademic training • Pracademic, free, evening startup program; run in SkySong and external locations (e.g. libraries once the EUREKA spaces open) • Originally aimed at graduate students, doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers • Now targeting a wider audience internally (staff) and externally • New specialized RSuS MDV program just delivered: Military, Defense and Veterans • Delivering Lean Launchpad based on the Steve Blank (Silicon Valley) lean methodology • Currently running different Rapid School programs for 2013: - Rapid Fund Raising School - Using RSuS as a platform for ALL startup initiatives in ASU
- 13. • ‘Hub andSpoke’ model with designated libraries • Wide geographic reach across the state • Identify ‘champions’ in each library • Special entrepreneurship and innovation trainings from ASU Venture Catalyst • Pilot location opens in May 2013 – others to follow Alexandria Coworking Network: Supporting Entrepreneurs, Innovators, Inventors and Small Business in our communities • Create collaboration spaces in each of the libraries: - Co-working ‘light’ – open to anyone - Place for entrepreneurs, innovators and inventors to network with each other - Innovation knowledge locations - Access to pracademic teaching modules - Access to exclusive online material - Layout includes white board and lean canvas material - Location for ASU mentors to be based or liaise with
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- 15. • The AppliedRegional Economic Action (AREA)48 is termed a Formation Space (pre startup/pre incubator) • It is designed to help individuals to form new teams, ideas, products, services and skills • Based in Tempe on Mill Avenue with easy access to both campus and ‘Joe Public’; supported by a grant of $145,000 from the Blackstone Foundation • It accomplishes this by bringing together a range of underused human assets including veterans and unemployed • These work together with a number of academic assets including researchers, staff and students • Its projected outcomes are: • New innovation and startup teams • New products and services that reach their respective markets • Participants with enhanced innovation and entrepreneurial capabilities and skills AREA48: a Formation Space –Birthing New Entrepreneurial Teams and Innovators
- 16. Actively Engaged –Being a major ‘node’ in the system • Developing models that can be replicated elsewhere (Furnace, Alexandria, AREA48) • Partnership and joint events with key parts of the ecosystem such as: – Mentorship groups like SCORE group – Co-Working spaces like Co-Hoots, Launchspot and Gangplank, SEEDSpot – Local government organizations – Angel groups, venture capital organizations – Major service providers e.g. legal, marketing, IP, new product development – Source of mentors, pracademics, funding – Other Universities, Colleges in the State