UK university spin-out companies not generating money, finds report
Most university spin-outs in the UK are failing to generate money, warns a new report by Nottingham University Business School. The research, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, found that few of the spin-out companies set up by institutions are becoming successful businesses. 'Universities are tending to focus on creating businesses rather than creating wealth. The proportion of university spin-out companies (USOs) that succeed is tiny. Unless universities are prepared to back their spin-outs with appropriate resources, most will continue to fail,' writes lead researcher, Professor Mike Wright. The poor performance of UK university knowledge transfer activities, including USOs, had already been highlighted in 2003 by the Lambert Report on university-business collaboration. Following this, government policy concentrated on encouraging universities to commercialise their intellectual property by launching entrepreneurial spin-outs. Despite policy changes, 'while scope exists for wealth generation from the commercialisation of research, in practice there is plenty of room for improvement,' states the Nottingham University report. 'The Lambert Report and other commentators have observed that there is a distinction between the creation of spin-outs per se and the creation of spin-outs that create significant wealth,' says Professor Wright, emphasising that universities need to improve their know-how. The report identifies a variety of factors that tend to hinder spin-out activities. These include the availability of finance, planning for a clear process, the amount of time university staff can devote to the spin-out companies and the space available at science parks. More importantly, noted the report, is 'the clash of commercial and academic cultures. Universities need to create a more accommodating culture for those academics that are entrepreneurially-orientated.' For example, an important factor in the success of a spin-out is the commitment of the originator academic to commercialise his or her technology. Professor Wright therefore advises universities to offer greater career support and entrepreneurial training to those interested. Academics should also be presented with more rewards for their commercial ideas, rather than primarily for their research efforts, adds the report. 'Our research clearly indicates that successful spin-out activity is not about the quantity of ventures initiated but the commitment shown by universities to achieving successful technology transfer outcomes. At present there is a mismatch between the aims espoused and universities' ability to deliver. Universities must consider the skills, resources and networks they need and begin to put these in place, said Professor Wright in his conclusion. 'Universities must devote more resources to increasing their social capital through developing and exploiting existing external partnerships, links and interactions with industry, venture capital firms and surrogate entrepreneurs so that academics and university technology transfer offices may become better positioned to recognise entrepreneurial opportunities,' he ended.
Kraje
United Kingdom