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From smartphones to new medical treatments to better-tasting apples, many of the technologies and inventions we enjoy today were developed at research universities, then scaled and commercialized for the public by the private sector through a process called technology transfer. That unique role of a professor as an inventor, and the practical education of many thousands of students who work as assistants, make research universities vital to the growth and vibrancy of cities, farms, states and our nation.
Heartland Forward, a think-and-do tank with the mission of improving economic performance in 20 states located inland from the East and West coasts (the heartland), recently evaluated which U.S. universities are best at creating new knowledge through technology transfer in a report called "Research to Renewal: Advancing University Tech Transfer," and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities was ranked No. 1 among universities in the heartland, No. 5 among all U.S. public universities nationally and No. 10 among all U.S. universities.
Overall, Research to Renewal says, the University of Minnesota offers a great example for other U.S. universities looking to improve their technology commercialization enterprise, noting its experienced tech transfer team and their creation of industry leading programs that allow companies low-risk opportunities to "try and buy" new technologies, and its thriving startup incubator and seed capital programs.
The report coincides with a significant milestone for one aspect of technology transfer at the university: the launch of its 200th startup company since 2006. Nearly 3 out of 4 of these startups, which commercialize university ideas and inventions, have located in Minnesota, making the U the state's single largest source of startups. These companies have an impressive rate of success, with nearly 80% still active today and with 10 either acquired or having gone public since 2017. And the university is getting better at spinning out companies with a high potential for success, launching a record 20 startup companies in fiscal year 2021 alone.
It is generally underappreciated that since 1945, tech transfer from research universities, both through startups and licensing to existing companies, has been a foundation of the innovation ecosystem driving our economic growth and ensuring our national security. With ever increasing competition from abroad, U.S. states, cities and rural areas, especially those inland from the coasts, should look to universities, the innovators in their midst, for renewed partnerships in their pursuit of prosperity. As Research to Renewal points out, research indicates that this approach, correctly channeled, can create high-paying jobs in the top 5% of incomes as well as broader inclusive economic growth that yields more middle-class incomes in a region.
You can see the promise of that kind of growth in the university's 200th startup company, Knine Biotech, which is using artificial intelligence for early cancer detection in dogs. The company relies on the university's unique STEM and biomedical strengths, and it brings those strengths to Minnesota's startup ecosystem. The university's diverse startup companies inject leading-edge technologies across many different fields into that same ecosystem. For example, Claros Technologies is creating filters using nanotechnology to clean up "forever chemicals" in our waterways, and Niron Magnetics, which recently raised $21 million for a Twin Cities pilot production facility, is commercializing sustainable and less-rare magnetic materials used in electric cars and windmills.
