UNLOCKING RESEARCH, FUELING INNOVATION

Michelle Bolas Named Acting CEO — Read the Full Announcement

NCInnovation News

Bridging Academia to Industry

NCInnovation unlocks the innovative potential of North Carolina’s world-class public universities. We do this by providing grant funding, mentorship, and partnership development to public university applied researchers working on discoveries that have commercial promise, helping accelerate the transition from academia to industry.

University applied research portfolios are natural engines of economic growth and have underpinned American technological dominance for decades. If matured properly and with commercialization as an end goal, the applied research underway in North Carolina’s public universities can create jobs and economic growth in every corner of the state.

Learn more about NCInnovation grants

Turning Challenges into Growth and Opportunity for North Carolina

Challenge

North Carolina’s world-class public universities are national leaders in research & development (R&D) dollars. But we lag in turning research breakthroughs into commercial success.

While North Carolina receives almost $13 billion annually in academic and industry R&D funding,

  • We rank 20th in total innovation, according to the North Carolina Innovation Index
  • We fall below the national average in commercializing our research
  • Competitor states are investing in their innovation ecosystems and successfully targeting North Carolina’s emerging tech companies
2nd Research and Development; 20th in Innovation

Opportunity

NCInnovation bridges the gap between academia and industry to advance more North Carolina public university research from proof-of-concept to the point where it is commercially investible. NCInnovation provides fiscally responsible funding and state-wide coordination to overcome the following challenges:

  • Lack of Applied Research: Lack of world-class collaborative research focused on finding marketplace solutions
  • Uneven Success: Lack of business knowledge in different regions of the state to understand technology and market assessments and advance the commercialization process
  • Underdeveloped Capital Landscape: Lack of capital and commercialization funding for applied university researchers
  • Lack of Regional Innovation Networks: Lack of regional collaboration to provide value-added services and assistance to connect academic, industrial, and capital formation networks

Despite these challenges, North Carolina has the foundation to become a thriving innovation ecosystem – where academia, industry, and private capital all leverage one another to create growth across the state.

See the full report.