Crowdsourcing University Technologies with New Website
Have you got any ideas about what to do with reconstructed active enzymes from four-billion-year-old extinct organisms, or silver ink pens that write electric circuits?
A new open innovation website, called AlliedMindStorm.com is inviting members of the public to crowdsource ideas for new commercial applications based around existing technologies.
Anyone whose idea for an application results in a new start-up will receive $25,000. In addition there will be a host of smaller prizes for best-in-class suggestions.
Invention into Innovation
“Allied MindStorm represents the manifestation of our firm’s mission: we want a diverse community of people working together to transform invention into innovation,” said Allied Minds CEO Chris Silva.
“Although our primary goal is to create new businesses based around the best suggestions we receive, our ultimate motivation is changing the way the public thinks about how technology evolves from an idea into a commercial application.”
Making the Most of New Technologies
Every year universities come up with thousands of new technologies that they try to market. Some are taken up by investment firms, particularly those with obvious commercial potential, but many others are passed over.
There are many reasons for this such as their potential is not immediately obvious or there are too many questions about which is the best application to develop a sustainable and profitable product.
By showcasing the most fascinating pieces of university research AlliedMinds hopes the crowd can improve them, and therefore make the decision about which technologies to develop a less complex one.
The open innovation website is the brainchild of Allied Minds, Inc, a private equity firm that invests in university-derived inventions. It doesn’t charge universities or the public to participate and forgoes the rights to any IP generated from the site.
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