From Disclosure to Company: Our Four-Step Process

Universities are, understandably, wary of outside groups asking for access to faculty research. So we built our process around a simple rule: the university stays in control at every step, and nothing is given away before it's earned.

1. Refer

A university's technology-transfer office refers disclosures to us on a rolling basis, entirely at its own discretion. There are no minimums and no exclusivity. We can accept or decline any disclosure in our own discretion too — this is a two-way filter, not an obligation.

2. Evaluate

For every accepted disclosure, we deliver a written commercial evaluation within 30 days, at no cost to the university. That evaluation covers market size, freedom-to-operate, and regulatory pathway, and ends in a clear build/pass recommendation.

3. Form

For technologies we recommend building on, we form the company, write the business plan, and recruit an experienced operator to run it — often letting the inventing faculty member stay in their faculty role if that's what they want. A license is negotiated on terms the university approves, benchmarked to R1 norms: a running royalty, a founder equity stake, and standard sublicense terms.

4. Grow

From there, the studio and our venture partners provide first capital, often stretched by non-dilutive SBIR/STTR grants the company already qualifies for, followed by traditional investor rounds.

Nothing is licensed until a specific agreement, for a specific technology, is negotiated and signed. The university can walk away from the broader relationship at any time. We built it that way on purpose — trust has to be earned at every stage, not assumed at the first.