The University of New Hampshire has partnered with a group of local entrepreneurs to launch a nonprofit business accelerator named the New Hampshire Innovation Commercialization Center.A team of respected New Hampshire technology entrepreneurs, led by Mark Galvin, have partnered with the University of New Hampshire (UNH) to launch a new startup business accelerator model - the New Hampshire Innovation Commercialization Center (NH-ICC). The goal of this new nonprofit center, which is located at the Pease Tradeport, is to create new jobs in the region and help regain traction in the New Hampshire high technology community by selecting high potential early stage companies and providing them with a combination of business resources, seed capital and “hands on involvement” by seasoned startup executives.
“The economic downturn of the past two years has taken a significant toll on the New Hampshire startup community, where a host of innovative new technologies - not to mention local jobs - are languishing on the sidelines because of the lack of a viable path to commercialization,” said Mark Galvin, the founder of Whaleback Systems in Portsmouth and Cedar Point Communications in Derry, and managing director of the NH-ICC. “The NH-ICC will provide a path for promising early stage companies to bring their products to market while also creating sustainable, high-value private sector jobs in the state.”
Added Galvin, “UNH has played a critical role in getting this initiative off the ground, providing both resources and funding. We look forward to helping the university accelerate the commercialization of its research, inventions and technology while also using the NH-ICC to attract entrepreneurs from throughout New England to build their startup business in New Hampshire.”
UNH provided startup capital for the NH-ICC as well as expertise in creating the unique public-private relationship. The NH-ICC will work to facilitate the use of university research by its resident companies through licensing and royalty agreements. UNH will also provide resident companies with student research assistants and mentors from its colleges, including the Whittemore School of Business and Economics.
“This is a great opportunity for the university to support technology entrepreneurship both on our campus and in our community, while at the same time leveraging our resources to help support the creation of private sector jobs in the state,” said UNH President Mark W. Huddleston. “Turning the university’s intellectual capital into commercial opportunities as a way not only to expand revenue streams but to enhance economic development and job creation in the state is a key component of the university’s 10-year strategic plan and I’m pleased we are well on the way to seeing results.”
The NH-ICC will select from a highly competitive group, up to 12 seed stage technology companies on a rolling 12-month basis and “graduate” resident companies after 18 months with the expectation that they will remain in New Hampshire, grow rapidly and create new jobs. The NH-ICC’s operations will be funded through a seed investment from UNH, private investment fund management fees and carried interest, and matching business development grants. Selected resident companies will receive $100,000 to $250,000 in seed funding from the private investment fund.
Resident companies will not only receive seed investments, but will be encouraged to use the seasoned NH-ICC startup staff to complete key Resident Company assignments, leveraging the staff’s expertise in go-to-market strategy, market analysis, marketing communications, sales, channels, operations, finance and human resources. In addition, the companies will share a high energy environment and business resources such as office space, meeting areas, communications systems and operations management services.
Initially, companies considered for entry into the NH-ICC will be primarily from the software, networking, Internet, telecommunications and related areas, which represents the expertise of the founding center executives. After the center is fully funded, two additional experts in other targeted industries will be added from the region’s business community, to provide leverage of other UNH college activities, such as the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (COLSA) and the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS), among others.
About NH-ICC
The New Hampshire Innovation Commercialization Center (NH-ICC), in partnership with the University of New Hampshire (UNH), is dedicated to accelerating the development of early stage high technology startups from throughout New England and the commercialization of UNH intellectual capital opportunities. This will produce significant growth in new and existing venture value and provide attractive returns to all stakeholders. For more information, please visit www.nh-icc.org.
About UNH
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state’s flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.
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Author: Press Release
