Commercialisation of Irish state research shows strong support for Irish local economy
* Licences from Irish Research Performing Organisations resulted in 22 products and services being brought to market in 201
* 113 Active Spin-out companies by the end of 2017 supporting at least 1160 jobs.
Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) has published its review into the outcomes contained within the KTI Annual Knowledge Transfer Survey 2017 that reports on the business and commercialisation activity by Research Performing Organisations in Ireland including universities, institutes of technology and specialist state research institutions.
Taking a deeper dive into the figures reported in the AKTS2017, the review found that 22 products and services resulting from licences from Irish RPOs were brought to market in 2017. It also found there were 113 Active Spin-out Companies by the end of 2017, supporting at least 1160 jobs. The majority of Active Spin-outs are in the ICT and Health & Medical Technologies sectors which together accounted for 63% of the total.
Furthermore, the report has found that these commercialisation activities - licensing and spin-out company creation by the Research Performing Organisations - show strong support for the local economy. Of the licensee companies reported, 95% have an Irish base and 97% of the Active Spin-out Companies are based in Ireland.
Commenting on the results of the Outcomes Report, Alison Campbell Director of KTI said “It is very pleasing to see commercial successes from State -funded research coming to market and manifesting returns to the economy in the form of new products, services and new companies and, of course, job creation. The knowledge transfer system plays a vital role in helping to bring novel and state-of-the art technologies to market in support of Ireland’s innovation ambitions. It is particularly encouraging that 113 Active Spin-out companies were still thriving by the end of last year, many of which were established in past 5-10 years. This, along with the numbers of licences translating into products and services is indicative of the excellent quality of research being undertaken and subsequently commercialised by Irish universities, institutes of technology and state funded research centres.”
The report showed the importance of targeted state supports for research and commercialisation, with many of the outcomes benefitting from Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund and High Potential Start-Up programme; support for collaboration under the EI Innovation Partnerships programme and through the SFI Centres.
For more information on the commercialisation of research in Ireland, licensing opportunities and spin-out companies visit www.knowledgetransferireland.com where you can also download your copy of the AKTS Outcomes Report 2017.
22/10/18