Innovation doesn’t happen overnight.That much is clear when looking at the delayed start of a joint venture-capital fund by Ohio State University and Ohio University.EnlargeThe Ohio State University seal.DOUG BUCHANANThe schools announced the OSU-OU Innovation Fund in April 2012, with Ohio State committing $20 million and Ohio University promising $15 million.A VC fund in California was going to manage it, but by April 2015 the schools acknowledged that after “several attempts at identifying a firm … we came to the conclusion that we weren’t able to find the right partner that had the same alignment that we did.”A manager was expected to be announced that month, but it didn’t happen.
Then in November, Ohio University President Roderick McDavis said the fund again was close to making an announcement.”I’m just delighted with the progress we’ve made,” he told me. “We feel good about the negotiations that are currently occurring, so we should be ready with an announcement in the not-too-distant future.”This week, officials from both schools said there’s no update.”(The goal is) to get it right as this has implications for the universities, the state and whoever we chose to run the fund,” Stephen Golding, Ohio University’s vice president for finance and administration, said in an email.
