Since establishing Stellenbosch University’s group of companies in 1998, more than 30 companies have been established, some of whom have been declaring and paying dividends to their shareholders and achieving profit margins year-on-year. Many of these companies incubated out of scientific breakthroughs which are in various phases of their development in becoming commercially viable, available, and providing innovations to assist with elements of, for example, healthcare.
Innovation and Commercialisation, Innovus
Innovation and Commercialisation known as Innovus is Stellenbosch University’s university-industry interaction and innovation office. Innovus is responsible for the technology transfer, entrepreneurial support and development, and innovation at the university. Innovus manages the commercialisation of the University’s innovation and intellectual property portfolio through patenting, licensing, and the formation of spin-out companies.
Through the LaunchLab business incubator, Innovus offers various services and opportunities for entrepreneurs. In addition to this their equity holding in the University Group of Companies is a valuable asset for the university.
Innovus is also home to the University’s Short Courses, Trade Marks and Copyright division, and its Commercial Services Department – SUNCOM.
Innovus’s profiles an impressive portfolio of available technologies and our group of companies for industry and investors who wants to help turn great ideas into reality. See our companies Spin-Out Companies and our Browse Or Filter Technologies technologies.
During the COVID lockdown period, the Innovus technology transfer team ensured that five new spinout companies were launched while raising millions of rands of investment for spinout companies.
University Technology Fund
As a first on the African continent, the establishment of the University Technology Fund in 2020, was an initiative of Innovus. This fund provides crucial pre-seed and seed capital to Stellenbosch University’s spin-out companies and entrepreneurs to help them commercialise technologies and grow their businesses and to build a pipeline of spinout companies from the university.
Stellenbosch Network
Innovus was instrumental in launching the Stellenbosch Network: a cross-sector and inter-disciplinary membership platform aiming to bring people together to meet each other, share ideas and encourage collaboration and partnership in innovation and entrepreneurship.
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