GAP Insights: Forbes on the Future of Universities and Research
In his recent Forbes article, David Rosowsky explores how research universities are entering a “looking glass” moment: facing structural change in how they teach, how they research, and how they commercialize. Forbes What’s Changing Public funding for research and higher education is under strain, pushing universities to look for alternative models of sustainability and impact. […]
NZ Researchers to Gain First Rights Over Inventions, Cap Institutional Equity at 10%
In a major shift for New Zealand’s science and innovation landscape, the Government has unveiled a national intellectual property (IP) policy that will give researchers greater control over their own inventions, encouraging the commercialisation of homegrown ideas and boosting the translation of academic research into real-world products and services. Announced by Minister of Science, Innovation […]
6 Student Ventures Awarded Fall 2025 Orange Innovation Fund Grants
The University has announced the recipients of the Fall 2025 Orange Innovation Fund, a competitive grant program that fuels early-stage ideas developed by student entrepreneurs. The fund supports innovative projects across campus that demonstrate strong potential to commercialize research. The fund, administered through the University Libraries, is designed to help student founders move their ventures from concept […]
UT Discovery to Impact Opens Off-Campus Lab Space for Private Sector to Accelerate Life Sciences Research
The University of Texas at Austin’s Discovery to Impact unit has opened a 10,000-square-foot off-campus wet lab in North Austin aimed at accelerating life-sciences commercialization by offering private-sector companies access to university research infrastructure and expertise.What’s new: The facility features 33 modular benches, high-end equipment (e.g., Agilent Cytation C10), dedicated office + meeting space […]
Monash University biotech spinout Rage lands $29 million Series A
The round was led by IP Group Australia and super fund Hostplus, with support from existing investors including Monash Ventures. The funds will go towards first-in-human clinical trials for Rage’s nasal therapy to treat inflammatory lung diseases The startup’s name is an acronym of Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products (RAGE), a receptor involved in inflammation in […]
La Trobe University launches fund to invest in start-ups
The Omni-System has been developed by start-up company Gaia Project Australia (GPA) in collaboration with La Trobe researchers from the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (SCEMS) and the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment (SABE). The company’s flagship product is set to revolutionise Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), with tests showing it can increase […]
GAP Commentary: Can Universities Really Run Venture Studios? A Look at What It Would Take.
Whenever I see the term “university venture studio”, I have a click-whirr response that brings me back to when this conversation really started for me. It was 2023, during a panel at Covergence, where we explored whether the venture studio model could realistically migrate into a university setting. Two questions came out of that discussion, […]
University of Calgary – UCeed Startup Investment Funds celebrate five years of impact with $30M under management and first portfolio exit
In just five years, UCeed has redefined how universities fuel innovation and drive economic growth in Canada. What started as a bold idea to accelerate research from lab to market has grown into Canada’s largest university-based investment fund of its kind, powered by philanthropy and rooted in UCalgary’s culture of entrepreneurial thinking. Launched with two […]
Seattle startup insiders lead new Service Provider Capital fund investing in PNW tech startups
Seattle’s startup lawyers and bankers have long helped founders raise capital. Now they’re pooling some of their own money to invest in promising early stage tech companies across the Pacific Northwest. A trio of longtime Seattle startup service providers — Minh Le of Stifel Bank and Craig Sherman and David Wickwire of Wilson Sonsini — are teaming up to lead the Pacific […]
Universities are a natural home for innovation’s riskiest steps – UK Perspective
At the end of October, UK science minister Patrick Vallance announced the Dementia Patient Flow R&I Challenge. The call is the latest under the government’s flagship £500 million R&D Missions Accelerator Programme. The government’s challenge, backed with £5m of public money, is for researchers and innovators to step up with bold ideas that will quicken diagnosis and […]