Mission:
The Mission of NBDC’s TechVenture Program is to serve as a catalyst for growth and competitiveness in innovation for Nebraska entrepreneurs and businesses through Technology-based economic development principles including regional knowledge transfer, support services and stakeholder engagement.
Goals:
Our goal is to bring together stakeholders to foster innovation and knowledge-based economic development practices for Nebraska Universities and businesses and to identify technology and industry strengths to assist in creating viable tech-based companies that can grow and prosper in Nebraska.
- Increase the number of technology-based companies (and jobs) in Nebraska
- Commercialize Nebraska university technologies and research through regional technology-based economic development
- Grow Nebraska core competency industries through innovation-based joint ventures
- Create a network for stakeholders - Nebraska businesses, inventors, entrepreneurs, researchers, business professionals and resource organizations to collaborate.
Innovation Intermediary:
An Innovation Intermediary model pairs commercialization with regional connectivity to accelerate innovation for regional economic growth. Innovation intermediaries help align a region’s technologies, assets, and resources to work together on innovation.
The Innovation Intermediary primarily serves two functions - (1) it creates opportunities for entrepreneurs, researchers, scientists, business service providers, and industry through structural, informational, and educational activities can lead to strong regional collaborations, and (2) it serve as an accelerator that advances technological innovation into the marketplace for regional economic benefit. To accelerate innovation, the intermediary must combine scientific knowledge, market research, business know-how, and complementary investment programs under a single roof. Finally, the innovation intermediary must continue to research, identify, collaborate, and market regional strengths to continue to refine and position regional competitive advantages.
As the Innovation intermediary, NBDC will assist universities and Nebraska small businesses in identifying promising technologies that have commercial potential, provide business and market evaluation, foster collaborative partnerships and provide educational forums - while serving the economic development goals for Nebraska by creating sustainable Nebraska businesses and high‐wage jobs in technology based industries.
Technology Commercialization Roadmap:
An Innovation Intermediary model pairs commercialization with regional connectivity to accelerate innovation for regional economic growth. The most successful models of innovation intermediaries align a region’s technologies, assets, and resources to work together on innovation. The primary function of the intermediary is to serve as an accelerator that advances technologies into the marketplace for regional economic benefit. To implement this model, the NBDC TechVenture Development program follows our Technology Commercialization Roadmap - a model for assessing technology, market and business venture readiness and making a Go/No-Go decision to pursue commercialization.
Strategies the NBDC TechVenture Program will explore to help position our universities, as well as Nebraska business' R&D efforts, to drive technology based economic development are:
1. Identifying promising research in key strength and growth industries for Nebraska
2. Link academic researchers with industry to enhance the R&D efforts of existing Nebraska businesses
3. Capture IP to create new Nebraska companies
Technology Commercialization Model:
The Technology Commercialization Model, developed by H. Randall Goldsmith, is a specific tool designed to strategically and systematically guide the process, plans and actions for the commercialization of technologies.
The model breaks the process down into a sequence of three major phases, six key stages, eighteen significant steps and dozens of critical activities that maximize the probability for success. Each phase has technical, marketing and business activities that must be considered as you move through the process. The model is a framework designed to help you develop progress measures, identify information and technical assistance needs, project development costs, and forecast financing requirements. The process must be established using business networks and service providers that can be utilized at different times to assist with commercialization.
The Commercialization Model assists 1) entrepreneurs in identifying where they are in the commercialization process and priorities for next steps, 2) investors in assessing the venture readiness of an investment opportunity, 3) existing companies in developing new products for their portfolios, and 4) service providers in identifying when and where their services are most likely required. The initial step is identifying which phases, stages and steps have been accomplished in the commercialization process by the innovator.
A solid, strategic plan following this process helps you identify your objectives and keeps you moving forward.
© Goldsmith
Nebraska Core Competencies:
NBDC TechVenture Program will look to identify and capitalize on the highest strength and growth Nebraska industries where economic clusters have been successful.
“Technology-driven” industry core competencies in Nebraska – with strength and growth opportunities:
Information Services
and Data Centers |
Transportation and Logistics Services |
Processed Foods |
Bioscience and
Medical Devices |
Wind Energy |
For further information, contact
Veronica Doga
University of Nebraska - Omaha
6708 Pine Street, Suite 200
Omaha, NE 68182
402.554.6250
Marisol Rodriguez
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
1320 Q Street
Lincoln, NE 68588-0467
402.472.5222
Concept Phase
The first commercialization activity begins when an entrepreneur recognizes a need in the market and knows how to meet it with a new product or service; or an entrepreneur develops a product or service and recognizes a new market application for it. Exploring the technical, market and business potential requirements necessary to make the idea a reality is called the Concept Phase. This phase is associated with new venture startups and/or existing companies considering a new product.
The Concept Phase consists of two stages – the Investigation Stage and the Feasibility Stage.
Development Phase
If the results of the Feasibility Stage are positive, the innovator now has sufficient information to attract outside investment to move forward in the commercialization process. The Development Phase consists of two stages: the Development Stage and the Introduction Stage.
Commercial Phase
is the last, longest, and defining phase of an entrepreneurial venture. It represents the beginning of a journey toward great accomplishments and personal rewards, but above all it is a journey designed to build and accumulate wealth. There are two stages to the commercial phase. One is the Early Growth Stage followed by the Maturity Stage. It starts out first to grow the business then to dominate a market niche and finally capture market share.
Investigation Stage
is undertaken to determine whether there is sufficient market demand to justify pursuing the idea; whether someone else’s patent or copyright protects the proposed product, and whether the opportunity is sufficiently viable to support the introduction of a product to the market or sufficient to support a new enterprise.
Feasibility Stage
determines the economic feasibility of the opportunity. During this stage, the individual quantifies the market opportunity by identifying the target market, the size of the market, and the appetite of the market for the product. Also, during this stage a model or crude prototype of the product is developed, and a financial model is generated to determine the potential return on investment.
Development Stage
involves the completion of three major activities: production of a limited amount of finished product or service, the strategic marketing plan and the strategic business plan. This phase requires sufficient start-up capital to initiate business operations. It is critical to have financing in place to accomplish this stage.
Introduction Stage
consists of three activities: the pre-production prototype, market validation, and business start-up. The introduction stage can be considered the defining moment when the business is launched, limited amounts of product are produced and limited sales are made. It is important to verify that the technical assumptions made in the business plan about the costs and capacities are valid.
Early Growth Stage
consists of the production, sales and distribution, and business growth activities. Whether the venture is designed as a life-style or high performance and growth company, the growth stage is designed to exploit the market opportunity and potential.
Maturity Stage
The final stage in the commercialization process is business maturity. The three activities of the maturity stage are: production support, market diversification, and business maturity.
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