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.

Mart Maasik has stepped down as chief executive of UniTartu Ventures at the University of Tartu to join a $63 spinout investment fund.

Vincent Coole, who built a programme University of Birmingham programme to commercialise technology before creating a spinout, has joined Trinity College Dublin.

The university is the latest academic institution in the Asian country to launch an investment fund to support spinouts.

The UK university has set up physical presence in San Francisco to be closer to US investors and companies it seeks to partner with.

Pearse Coyle worked with Innovate UK to upgrade their pre-accelerator programme ICURe and teach would-be founders to raise cash early.

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

The universities of Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside are the latest group of academic institutions in the UK to launch a fund to invest in their spinouts.