North Carolina public universities brought in nearly $1.3 billion in outside research funding last year, and state policymakers want to see more of that research turned into job-creating companies.^[1]

“We’ve got the University network, and we’ve got the talent,” Governor Pat McCory said last month. “We’ve got to convert more of our research dollars into products and services in the marketplace.”^[2]

University leaders are working to do just that. Investments in game-changing research are a major part of the statewide strategic plan adopted in 2013, with a focus on high-growth areas like energy, health care, nanotechnology and data analysis. Already, the University’s focus on commercializing faculty breakthroughs has paid off.

• NC State spinoff Agile Sciences uses organic, nontoxic materials to help fight bacterial infections in both people and crops. By disrupting harmful biofilms at the molecular level, this NCSU technology could help fight the kinds of infections that have become resistant to normal antibiotics.
• At NC A&T, research into advanced carbon fibers led to the spin-off company Advaero Technologies, which aims to manufacture lighter, stronger materials for industry. The company is getting its start in Greensboro’s Gateway Research Park, a collaboration between NC A&T and UNC Greensboro.
• UNC Chapel Hill startup company Liquidia Technologies won a $10 million investment from the Gates Foundation to back its nanotechnology research.^[3]Under the direction of renowned chemist Joe DeSimone, Liquidia is using particle engineering techniques developed at Carolina to create highly targeted medicines and vaccines.
• At East Carolina University, Quality of Life Applications, Inc. is applying groundbreaking insight from Dr. Sam Sears to improve the well-being of implant patients. The company’s first product, an application called ICD Coach, helps people with cardiovascular implants manage anxiety, monitor symptoms, and stay in contact with their doctors.

To up the pace of innovation, University campuses are launching new ventures designed to help students and faculty become successful entrepreneurs. At UNC-Chapel Hill, a program called Carolina Kickstart helps connect promising medical research with outside investors and provides grants to help faculty researchers explore marketable ideas.

“The University has a mission to solve big problems, to have an impact on society, to translate knowledge to have an impact on the public good,” said Don Rose, director of Carolina Kickstart. “This is another avenue for the University to fulfill that mission.”

There are more than 150 North Carolina companies that have origins at UNC Chapel Hill. They include well-known life-science companies like Quintiles and early-stage tech ventures like Carbon3D, which develops enhanced 3D printing techniques. The recently launched Carolina Venture Research Fund will help grow that pool of entrepreneurial talent by providing early stage investments to promising spin-off companies.

At NC State University, Centennial Campus boasts a technology incubator with more than a dozen start-up companies working to commercialize NCSU breakthroughs. One of those new ventures could become the next SAS or Cree, major employers in the region and marquee brands for North Carolina.

“Research plays a critical role in the entrepreneurial infrastructure of the state, enabling it to relentlessly turn out new ideas and companies, create new ways of targeting drug treatments, run efficient production lines, manage public policy challenges, or finance and deliver health care,” reads the University’s Strategic Directions plan.^[4]

The state’s public campuses are doing their part to help grow North Carolina’s start-up economy through world-class research and more efficient paths from the lab to the marketplace.

“The competition is very tough,” Governor McCrory told University leaders last month. “We have the tools to be a leader in innovation, especially in our Universities.”