Venture Acceleration Initiative

The Venture Acceleration Initiative (VAI) at the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) was conceived in September 2006. As a University of California Discovery Fellow, Don Oparah, set out to examine the “gap” between research and technology innovation in academia and venture creation and commercialization. In other words, how can one facilitate the process of taking the results of basic university research and create a “product” that benefits society?

The university faculty in charge of leading research programs are generally concerned with advancing science in their field and educating/developing students. They typically do not have the resources or business expertise to take their research breakthroughs and move them in the direction of commercialization. On the other hand, in many cases the providers of capital and business managers consider the opportunities that are developed through university research too abstract or immature to be viable ventures. The VAI will focus on the bridging this “gap” by assisting with nucleation, validation, and development of these early stage opportunities.

After researching the idea, building a team, and operating in a pilot phase for about a year the VAI will be officially launched in January 2008. The organization was specifically formed to support faculty in the pursuit of new ventures based on technology breakthroughs at UCSB. The VAI will provide services that are designed to proactively accelerate the venture start-up process which include entrepreneurial consulting, business networking, and seed-funding.

The VAI program will lead to direct benefits for the university and its community in terms of accelerated technology transfer, enhanced profile, motivated faculty and future goodwill. It is also envisioned that the resulting increase in the volume and rate of new venture creation at UCSB will have wider economic and societal impact in terms of faster access for society to high-value technologies, increased regional job creation, sustained global competitiveness and a richer pool of investment opportunities for capital providers.