Investing in Companies Affiliated with University Incubators
The Bay Area is home of many business and technology incubators that are privately funded. There are also several incubators sponsored by universities and related organizations that play an important role in developing life science and technology companies. Given the large number of successful companies with university origins, both investors and entrepreneurs are looking to these incubators with great anticipation.
Today we attended an academy on the topic “Investing in Companies Affiliated with University Incubators” at the law firm Reed Smith in San Francisco organized by Keiretsu Forum.
The panel included:
- Tom Quinlan, Partner, Reed Smith LLP - Moderator
- Roger Werne, Deputy Director, Lawrence Livermore National Lab - Panelist
- Jeff Burton, Executive Director, Skydeck - Panelist
- Douglas Crawford, Associate Director, QB3 - Panelist
The panelists discussed the types of companies coming through the university incubators, the milestones achieved by these companies, intellectual property issues related to technology transfers, the track records of university incubators generally in helping to get companies funded or to achieve their exit strategy.
