The VPRI Innovation Fund will invest between $25,000 and $75,000 at the proof-of-concept stage to drive commercialisation activities at University of Oregon.
University of Oregon (UO) has unveiled the VPRI Innovation Fund to provide seed grants of $25,000 to $75,000 to translational research projects.
The fund, announced by the university’s office of the vice-president for research and innovation, will aim to support the commercialisation of more products and services based on Oregon research.
It is being supported by UO’s commercialisation division Innovation Partnership Services and funded through donations and funds allocated by UO’s University Venture Development II Fund.
VPRI will tackle the lack of funding available for researchers who have developed their initial concepts thanks to federal grants but whose inventions remain too early-stage to attract capital from profit-oriented vehicles.
Recipients of funding will be expected to seek additional capital. The fund will assist with connections to external funding sources.
The fund will accept applications on a rolling basis from researchers who have already filed disclosures with Innovation Partnership Services or who are under project management agreements.
Chuck Williams, associate vice-president for innovation at UO, said: “Translational research is often difficult to fund because it falls in the gap between research funded by federal agencies and the more product-oriented goals of commercial entities.
“This program helps our faculty to bridge that gap, making it more likely that we can bring promising discoveries to market.”
