The Oregon State University Advantage program on Thursday announced a new partnership with a prestigious Taiwan-based venture capital firm that gives companies with OSU ties the opportunity to receive $250,000 or more in investment funding. The announcement came during the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit at OSU.

The firm is Industrial Technology Investment Corporation, which in its 40 years of existence has invested more than $12 billion globally in companies that now have market capitalization in excess of $200 billion.

Businesses created by OSU faculty, students, staff or alumni are eligible to apply for funding through the partnership, which has been named ITIC x OSU Advantage Accelerator. Also eligible are startups or spinouts using technology developed at Oregon State, and members of the broader OSU community are encouraged to apply as well.

“Given the resources that ITIC brings to its portfolio companies, its success in the investment markets and the alignment we saw between the companies coming out of, or are associated with, Oregon State, we knew we needed to offer this opportunity to the OSU innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Karl Mundorff, a director of the OSU Advantage Accelerator, which assists entrepreneurs seeking to start companies.

To be eligible, companies should have sales for the current fiscal year. Exceptions are made for applicants not meeting this requirement if they supply a potential customer’s letter of intent

For more information or to apply, visit the ITIC x OSU Advantage Accelerator website.

The deadline to apply is June 19, and finalists will be announced Sept. 23. The company or companies selected for funding – ITIC may choose to invest in more than one – will be announced in December.

“After our visit with the Advantage Accelerator, we came away very impressed with the companies and technologies coming out of the university,” said Stella Yeh, vice president at ITIC. “It was a simple decision to ask if OSU wanted to participate in this investment program with us.”

Led by Brian Wall, associate vice president for research, innovation and economic impact, the Oregon State University Advantage aims to maximize OSU’s impact by being a leading resource for the strategic innovation economy in Oregon and beyond.

The Advantage Accelerator, under the direction of Mundorff and Mark Lieberman, helps nascent startups develop and commercialize high-growth, innovative technologies. The accelerator works with OSU faculty, students, staff and the broader university community to advance ideas and conduct research into products and services, guiding entrepreneurs through all phases of the commercialization process.

~ Steve Lundeberg

May 09, 2019