Analysis

May 20, 2021

Does the university tech transfer system need an overhaul?

Universities often take a 25% to 50% equity stake in spinouts, which venture capitalists say makes the startups un-investable.


Maija Palmer

9 min read

Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

Of the 116 venture capital-backed European companies worth more than $1bn, only four are university spinouts: Collibra, Exscientia, MindMaze and Oxford Nanopore.

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Chart showing how founder' equity is diluted over time
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Tweet from Nahan Benaich
Nathan Benaich is using Twitter to shed light on poor university terms for founders.
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