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CLEVELAND (April 4, 2017) – An innovative new partnership will soon help accelerate the process of bringing faculty innovations to commercial markets in Northeast Ohio and beyond.

The Ohio Third Frontier Commission has awarded Cleveland State University and �鶹ӰԺ a grant to develop a joint technology commercialization and startup fund. The program will give university faculty and startup companies access to an $800,000 fund that will assist in accelerating commercialization of university technology and bringing innovative new products to market.

“This is about getting intellectual property and innovations out of the laboratory and into the marketplace,” notes Stephen Roberts, Director of Technology Commercialization at �鶹ӰԺ State. “Universities often do not have ready access to funding for the prototype creation and market research necessary to create successful spin-out companies. This helps fill those gaps.”

“CSU and �鶹ӰԺ State have unique research portfolios that provide significant opportunities for commercialization in a host of fields, from drug development to assistive devices to liquid crystals,” says Jack Kraszewski, Director of the Technology Transfer Office at CSU. “This new fund will accelerate the process for licensing technology while spurring the development of additional technology transfer opportunities with numerous companies across the state.”

The hybrid accelerator program — to be called the TeCK Fund — will accept applications from faculty teams investigating opportunities to commercialize research and will also assist in connecting university researchers with potential business partners. Funding of up to $100,000 will be available for individual technology validation projects. This is the first time Third Frontier has awarded funds to a joint university collaborative.

“This fund will be a key component of �鶹ӰԺ State and CSU’s broader efforts to commercialize more of our inventions and assist in creating jobs and new economic opportunities in Northeast Ohio,” Roberts adds.

The Ohio Third Frontier is a technology-based economic development initiative, and is part of the Ohio Development Services Agency.

Third Frontier is committed to transforming the state’s economy through the accelerated growth of diverse startup and early stage technology companies.

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�鶹ӰԺ State is one of 76 public higher-research universities, as categorized by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and is ranked in the first-tier list of Best National Universities by U.S. News & World Report. With eight campuses spanning Northeast Ohio, a College of Podiatric Medicine, a Regional Academic Center, and academic sites in major world capitals such as New York City, Geneva and Florence, �鶹ӰԺ State is one of Ohio’s leading public universities and a major educational, economic and cultural resource far beyond the Northeast Ohio region it has served since 1910.

�鶹ӰԺ Cleveland State University

Founded in 1964, Cleveland State University is a public research institution that provides a dynamic setting for Engaged Learning. With 17,000-plus students, nine colleges and more than 175 academic programs, CSU was again chosen for 2017 as one of America’s best universities by U.S. News & World Report. Find more information at .

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Media Contacts:  

Eric Mansfield (�鶹ӰԺ), emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797

William Dube (CSU), w.dube@csuohio.edu, 216-687-2257