Professors have academic teaching obligations that can distract them from leading a spinout, but their technical expertise is also often invaluable to its commercial success.

Pooling tech transfer resources could help smaller universities commercialise technology that they can't push out on their own.

The £40m recently allocated by the UK government to proving university research is commercially viable shouldn't just benefit Oxford, Cambridge and London, say sector pundits.

The US university recently created an office of innovation as part of a drive to commercialise more of the research coming out of its labs.

The students have faced a three-year journey to raise money for the planned $1m venture fund.

While universities often push their academics to be more entrepreneurial, having a professor lead a spinout decreases its chances of raising money and being acquired, according to research by Harvard associate professor Maria Roche.

Unable to match the high salaries paid by the investment sector, university tech transfer offices are becoming creative with non-financial perks and career pathways.

Australia has one of the world's most mature university investment ecosystems, thanks to large pensions funds, Uniseed and royalties from wifi.

Stellenbosch's university venture fund, the first of its kind in Africa, has been a “huge paradigm shift" in the ecosystem.

Permanent residence cards for graduates of science and technology degrees and talent exchange programmes are some of the solutions touted for startups seeking to hire high-skilled people.