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The Research Institution GAP Fund and Accelerator Program Summit

MassVentures Launches New Center to Support Academic Inventors and Entrepreneurs

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October 16-17, 2025 / Seattle, WA

The annual summit for research institution gap fund and accelerator programs, including proof of concept programs, startup accelerators, and university venture funds

The Story

Boston — Today, MassVentures announced the launch of the rebranded Massachusetts Academic Spinouts Center (MASC), formerly known as the Mass Tech Transfer Center, to accelerate academic spinout company formation and success. MASC will engage with the entrepreneurial ecosystem and Massachusetts’ world-class academic institutions and research labs to help inventors, researchers, and entrepreneurs to bring their innovations to market.

Academic spinouts are companies formed to commercialize inventions and technologies developed as the result of research at universities, academic medical centers and nonprofit labs. They are frequently founded by a faculty or staff member or a student affiliated with the university. Massachusetts higher education institutions and academic research hospitals invest more than $8 billion annually in research, and the state’s standing as the highest rated state in the nation for education makes it a leader in academic spinouts, with groundbreaking companies such as Moderna, Akamai, CRISPR Therapeutics, and E-Ink evolving from academic institutions in Massachusetts.

Full story: MassVentures Launches New Center to Support Academic Inventors and Entrepreneurs | Mass.gov