Minnesota generates 19 businesses in 2019

University of Minnesota spawned 19 new businesses in 2019 while generating $20.7m in tech transfer revenue, compared with $16.1m for the previous year, according to the St Paul Business Journal.
The spinout tally matched the record achieved by University of Minnesota in the 2018-19 fiscal year.
The uptick in income meanwhile was largely ascribed to exits at five university-founded businesses.
These included educational assessment technology business FastBridge Learning, bought by edtech company Illuminate Education in July 2019, in addition to microbial analysis spinout CoreBiome and genome editing services provider B-Mogen Biotechnologies.
University of Minnesota researchers applied for 187 patents in 2019, with the university ranking 20th globally in terms of US patents granted, according to the National Academy of Inventors.
The institution inked 223 new licensing agreements last year, bringing its total number to 571.
Core royalties from its inventions, setting aside one-time payments such as exits, were broadly in line with the previous year, Rick Huebsch, executive director of technology commercialisation at University of Minnesota told St Paul Business Journal.
Huebsch added: “It is one thing to say we have spun out 19 startups, which is awesome, but it is just a pipeline. Quality is more important than quantity for developing the school’s reputation as an innovation hub.”