Announcing Release of Mind the Gap 2015 Report

The innovation system that transitions breakthroughs in research from the lab into the marketplace is constrained by the lack of available early stage capital and developmental support. This “gap” extends from where the government funding of basic research ends to where existing companies or investors are willing to accept the risk to commercialize or invest in the technology or start-up. The negative result is that a large portion of economic creation is left unrealized because it isn’t funded and supported.

This dearth of early stage development capital must be recognized and addressed as a serious threat to future innovation and associated societal benefits. Left without a solution, many promising technologies and start-ups will stall or struggle to develop on a path of least resistance towards a sub-optimal end.

To address this challenge, research institutions and partners have created technology and start-up gap funding programs as a capital and innovation support mechanism that is uniquely positioned to address critical elements of technology development and start-up formation from research institutions, while also attracting additional capital and participation from the technical, investment, and corporate communities.

The Mind the Gap Report, a first-of-its-kind resource, now in its third iteration, has tracked the evolution of translational research, proof of concept and start-up gap funding programs associated with these leading research institutions over the past decade.

The Report now includes 82 gap funding programs affiliated with 51 research institutions and details their sources and sustainability, processes and management, focus and intent, and ultimately their impact on the innovation community and its capabilities.

“We launched the Mind the Gap initiative a decade ago to address a larger issue in innovation—a lack of early stage capital (and support) to transition early stage technology from the lab to the marketplace. By partnering with research institutions and affiliates, we inform, connect, and advocate for one solution—technology and start-up gap funding.”, says Jacob Johnson, Founder of innovosource and Author of Mind the Gap.

“Moving forward, we believe that our role is to provide information that current and aspiring gap fund managers and innovation stakeholders can use to develop their own programs, to connect programs with members of the technical, business, investment, and entrepreneurial communities, and to advocate for future policy that supports these funds and associated efforts.”

• 82 Gap Funds Affiliated with 51 Research Institutions
• 35 US States and Five Countries
• $302M into 3,425 Gap Funded Technologies/Start-ups
• $3.2B in Attracted Capital to Gap Funded Projects
• 814 Start-ups Created and Over 7,000 New Jobs
• Engaging Thousands of Faculty, Students, Entrepreneurs,Investors, and Industry Members