Notre Dame registers 32 startups in 2019

University of Notre Dame’s commercialisation hub, Idea Center, generated 32 new startups during 2019, bringing its total to 64 since it was founded in mid-2017, according to Inside Indiana Business.
Two of the 2019 businesses were spinouts founded by Notre Dame faculty and staff – topical foot ulcer treatment developer SalvePeds and university benefactor gift supplier Benefactory.
The remainder were formed by students and alumni. Companies were founded in segments including healthcare, IT, advertising, consumer products, fashion and food additives.
Idea Center’s 64 active businesses have together lured $6.6m in funding to date and generated 99 full-time jobs.
The incubator provides faculty and students with access to resources which include a 55,000 square foot innovation park and a tech transfer initiative called Commercialization Engine.
Idea Center has also raised a $22m-plus venture fund called Notre Dame Pit Road Fund to provide early-stage capital to businesses that have completed its de-risking and validation process.
David Murphy, the hub’s assistant provost and executive director for student entrepreneurship at University of Notre Dame, attributed the large proportion of student-founded businesses to changing attitudes toward entrepreneurship.
He said: “Students are no longer content to sit on the sidelines with textbooks; they want to roll up their sleeves and start companies, build teams and change the world.”