UF Technology Showcase - Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Good afternoon and welcome!
I am glad to see so many here today scoping out investment opportunities in University of Florida spinoffs. I think you will have plenty to see! We have 16 spinoffs presenting this year, and they have great things to show you!
The buzz surrounding this event is a sharp contrast to the continuing economic gloom and doom. That is not only refreshing, it is also quite telling.
We know, you investors, inventors and entrepreneurs… none of you got this country into its financial quagmire.
But you and your colleagues' innovation and vision will play a key role in getting us out of it!
Late last month, President Obama gave a speech at a White House event titled "Investing in Our Clean Energy Future." The main point was, the nation's clean energy innovators will help bring about energy independence—while creating new jobs and industries to drive economic recovery.
One of his examples, I am proud to say, hailed from right here in Gainesville and is a past exhibitor at this very technology showcase.
It was Sinmat, the Gainesville startup that is engineering better ways to build microchips used in smart energy systems such as efficient lighting.
President Obama introduced Deepika Singh, who founded Sinmat with her husband Rajiv, a UF professor of materials science and engineering.
He told Deepika and the other assembled innovators, "It's said that necessity is the mother of invention. At this moment of necessity, we need you. We need some inventiveness."
What's true for the nation is also true for this university, for this region and for Florida.
Like most other universities, UF faces severe cuts due to the state's steep fall off in tax dollars. While Alachua County remains somewhat insulated, North Central Florida is losing employers and jobs—just to the south, Marion County's unemployment tops 12 percent.
At the statewide level, Florida is struggling to find its way now that the mainstays of housing and tourism are in such sad shape.
Research, technology transfer, startups—in Obama's word, "inventiveness"—all of it offers a proven path to a better future.
We need to look no further than the emerging technology industry right here.
People in the tech community say successful commercialization rests on four pillars: exciting technology, entrepreneurship, investment, and good location.
Not only do we have all four here, but all four are strong and strengthening.
I hardly need to plug the technologies coming out of UF — this showcase will make the case for their promise.
But it's no accident that The Today Show this winter featured the UF spinoff WiPower, another past exhibitor at this showcase.
WiPower makes a pad that can charge portable devices such as cell phones wirelessly, with no cords.
Also, the BBC will be in town next week to film a story on Sharklet Technologies, which makes a unique antimicrobial coating for medical devices.
Both spinoffs grew out of UF engineering research.
We also have a track record of successful entrepreneurs.
Look no further than Progress Corporate Park, adjacent to the Sid Martin Biotechnology Development Incubator. Some 1,200 people work in the park currently—85 percent at successful UF spinoffs!
Investment is another strength. To be sure, the downturn has made it tough to attract angel and venture funding.
But last year, UF spinoffs, for the first time, cracked the $100 million mark in venture capital funding.
And, since the Sid Martin Incubator was founded in 1995, its current and former occupants have brought in at least $300 million in private investment dollars as well as $100 million in grants.
Which brings me to the final ingredient in the magical mix — location.
There is a lot going on in this region.
We are part of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, which works to bolster the technology industry in a 23 county region throughout central and North Florida.
More locally, the Sid Martin Incubator is full, with nine companies occupying all its space.
The City of Gainesville's incubator, the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center, or GTEC, is also full, with nine of its own companies.
This, in spite of the fact that neither is located near the university.
Think about what might happen if we had a third incubator—just next door to UF.
I want to conclude my remarks today with the news that we are have just launched a formal effort to build one.
Last week, we applied for a federal grant to build a $13 million, 45,000-square-foot incubator. Our vision is for the incubator to be located on the corner of Southwest 10th Avenue and Southwest Second Avenue. We want to create a facility with enough space for a dozen companies. This is in the area of Alachua General Hospital which is closing and will be torn down.
This incubator would be in walking distance from the university. Picture it: Faculty members could teach a class in the morning and run a startup in the afternoon!
Also, both the city and the university have already devoted time and resources to creating a thriving, mixed-use Second Avenue Corridor. Clearly, this incubator would act as a major anchor for that corridor.
Is this project in the bag? Certainly not. But with the Sid Martin Incubator, we proved we could make an incubator a success. We feel sure we can do it again.
Our Office of Technology Licensing and its UF Tech Connect program do a great job. Look no further than the Milken Institute, which in 2007 cited UF as the top single public university in the U.S. in commercializing technology.
But, whatever we do on our end as a university, we recognize that investors, entrepreneurs and inventors such as yourselves are the heart of this business.
I think you have abundant opportunities at this showcase, not only to pick a winner—but also to support technology and life science that will help renew this country.
And, in the big picture, changes people's lives for the better!
Thank you, and enjoy your day!
Bernie Machen