To make sure valuable European inventions reach the industries that can put them to use, instead of staying stuck on the shelf in public research labs.
Strong potential, but stuck between three worlds
Too small for venture capital
Venture investors need a stand-alone company with unicorn potential. Most industrial inventions are better off as a product inside an existing business.
Too early for industrial buyers
Companies buy at TRL 7–8, once a technology is proven in operation. Few will fund the years of maturation before that.
Too few hands at the TTO
Technology transfer offices have the mandate but rarely the budget or commercial staff to take all technologies to market.
Three phases from lab result to Corporate Acquisition
Capital is released phase by phase, as the evidence accumulates.
Lab result
Promising technologies with product potential at TRL 3–4 are selected.
Identify & Validate
Market mapping and technology benchmarking; customer outreach.
Test & Prove
Field tests and demonstrators; first customer evidence; buyers interact.
Qualify for sale
Demonstrated in operation (TRL 7–8); IP cleared; data room ready.
Acquisition
Competitive sale to a strategic buyer. A licence or spin-out as a fallback.
Six questions decide what technologies are a fit for Strategic Acquisition Readiness
Can potential strategic buyers for the technology be named today?
Is there a large, growing B2B industrial market?
Is it materially better than existing alternatives, and is it defensible?
Is there a reasonable path to buyer readiness, not a five-year validation programme?
Can it be matured with reasonable capital deployment?
Is it worth materially more to a customer than it costs to mature?