Indiana University has retooled its entrepreneurial support offering to enhance its services in business case development, executive recruitment and the sourcing of capital.

IU Research and Technology Corp (IURTC), the fund management arm of Indiana University (IU), has launched an entrepreneurial support mechanism called the Quarry to provide cross-campus support to university faculty and staff looking to launch spinouts. The Quarry will vet prospective spinouts by examining information such as invention disclosures from IU’s tech transfer arm, IU Innovation and Commercialization Office. The initiative will build on services previously offered through the Spin Up program and will be managed by Jason Whitney, manager of strategic partnerships at IURTC. IURTC has identified three main areas where its entrepreneurial support programming could be enhanced – in business case development, the sourcing of potential capital and recruitment of long-term executive talent. Entrepreneurs utilising the Quarry will be able to access university funding initiatives including IU Philanthropic Venture Fund and Innovate Indiana Fund, as well as partners and clients such as incubator Dimension Mill and tech cluster WestGate@Crane Technology Park. The Quarry has been set up to align with the “Building a Prosperous and Innovative Indiana” objectives of IU’s Bicentennial Strategic Plan, which sets out the university’s planned trajectory leading up to 2020. Whitney said: “Among the action items for this priority is to provide relevant, contemporary expertise and services to IU entrepreneurs. The Quarry is organised to meet that goal. “By providing support and assistance for innovative entrepreneurs, The Quarry provides for the commercialisation of innovative research that impacts not only Indiana but the world.”

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