Near term we have to focus not only on bricks and mortar but also on the money to fund ideas. All the other enlightened states are going that way.
Bob Morris
Attorney & Chairman
Technology Resources Foundation

Research Support

From Science to Entrepreneurship

Science has changed rapidly over the last 20 years and today the scientist has greater opportunities than ever before to see their laboratory research turn into clinical treatments and potentially entrepreneurial ventures. The intellectual property, technology transfer capabilities and venture capital and angel funds have added to the entrepreneurial endeavor.

Memphis Bioworks® Foundation has become an integral partner in taking bench-top research through to initial investment for the start-up company. The Foundation has been directly involved in grant applications and submissions in order for researchers to carry out their scientific work.

A typical scenario would follow the path of grant application, grant approval, research conducted and results generated to technology transfer process. Once the research is patented and licensed, the researcher may take the path of the entrepreneur and begin to think about starting a business based around the research.

The Foundation created Innova, an angel fund investment opportunity to assist new start-ups with capital, management and incubator space. The goal is to take the start-up company to the next level of venture capital and begin the process again for another idea.

Matching ideas, people, companies and funding is also a critical step from research to business. Memphis Bioworks Foundation has played a critical role in the creation of organizations that make critical connections, such as InMotion Musculoskeletal Institute and the annual Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference.

Research does not stop at the lab. Memphis Bioworks foundations AgBio initiatives are aimed at connecting farmers to research that can eventually link to business in an ongoing movement to alternative energy and biobased products from living sources and a biobased renewable resource economy.

Support for new ideas is a never ending process in the mission of creating an international bioscience center in Memphis. The economic development of the area is going to be dependent on programs initiated and supported by the Foundation along with the financial support of the community. The community must always be involved in the entrepreneurial spirit and the desire to make Memphis a strategic player in the development and commercialization of bioscience research.