Since 2007 the University Venture Development Fund (UVDF) has facilitated the commercialization of university discoveries and entrepreneurial activities. UVDF's Promotion and Development funds are available to Portland State faculty, staff and students and enable entrepreneurial education opportunities. The UVDF Facilitator fund is also available to PSU startups who have licensed PSU intellectual property.
Portland State University's (PSU) Office of Innovation and Intellectual Property (IIP) administers UVDF funds and has used them to help purchase equipment for the university's Electronic Prototyping Lab and others. The UVDF is also a funding source for the Center for Entrepreneurship, supporting the center's staff salaries and their high-touch, high-engagement programs, including InventOR and the Cleantech Challenge.
Generously funded by donors who receive tax credits for their donations, the state of Oregon designed the fund to be "evergreen," meaning that a portion of the revenues generated through patent licensing agreements between PSU and startups replenish the fund, ensuring sustainability.
"As startups become bigger and more successful or become acquired by a larger entity, we're able to reinvest in our local and state economies," said Travis Woodland, IIP's director.
IIP accepts UVDF applications on a rolling basis. Applications go through an external review process before Woodland makes a final funding decision.
In 2020 StoneStable, a PSU startup focused on serving the global need for vaccine stabilization using patented silica-coating technology, received a UVDF award for $100,005. This grant provided some of the funding necessary to forge a pathway to commercialization, including hiring subject-matter experts in vaccine stabilization as consultants.
"This was some of the expertise that we didn't have in-house," said Ken Stedman, Professor of Biology at PSU and Co-founder and CSO of StoneStable. "Working with these specialists is helping us achieve the milestones required to secure the next round of funding and to form strategic partnerships with vaccine manufacturers down the line."
Currently focused on applying its technology to vaccines related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, StoneStable's technology holds the potential to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry on a grander scale. Vaccine stabilization could eliminate the need for the cold chain, a set of rules and procedures designed to keep vaccines at appropriate temperatures during storage and transportation. Freeze-drying, an expensive process that increases the stability of vaccines, wouldn't be needed either. The successful implementation of their technology could increase access to vaccines both in the USA and in the developing world. As an added benefit, stabilizing vaccines could make them more efficient, reducing the amount of vaccine needed per dose which may lessen the side effects caused by vaccination.
Startups also commonly use UVDF funding for prototype development, equipment purchases, personnel salaries, incorporation costs, legal fees and lab and office space rentals. Over the last 14 years, IIP has provided at least 15 PSU startup companies with UVDF awards, supporting startups investigating solutions to problems ranging from wildfire detection to oxygen storage.
Research conducted by Opportunity Insights, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization at Harvard University, indicates exposure to innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities may be more successful in inspiring innovation and growth in the next generation of inventors than traditional measures such as tax breaks. As Oregon's most diverse university, PSU is in a unique position to increase exposure to innovation among women, minorities and students with low-income backgrounds through UVDF funding, improving our state's innovative capacity.