Universities agree to improve links with start-ups – Report

The Financieele Dagblad reported that universities are claiming shares in high-tech start-ups developed by (former) students but lack the expertise to bring products successfully to market. Last week, the four Dutch universities of technology agreed to strive to improve the relationship with start-ups, the paper said, but they declined to comment further, reports DutchNews.nl.

Budding entrepreneurs, their mentors and politicians want a rethink of the way universities deal with the commercial development of new technologies, the paper said. European research has shown that some 78% of patents taken out by the universities remain unused, making it a loss-making activity. At the same time, young entrepreneurs complain the universities demand too great a slice of the cake but say that openly criticising the practice may lead to repercussions.

Most budding entrepreneurs the paper talked to said universities are greedy for potential profits and some lost control of their start-up at an early stage. Richard Ruiterkamp, who developed an alternative way to generate wind power, told the FD he was initially told by Delft University of Technology officials they were not interested in his idea. However, when he started Ampyx Power, a company employing 50 people, the university claimed the knowledge was the property of the university because Ruiterkamp had been employed by the university at the time. Ruiterkamp refused their offer of a majority share in his own company and challenged the claim until the university gave up.
Full report on the DutchNews.nl site