Between its formation in 2003 and the end of FY 2016, Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE) helped launch 96 spinouts founded by ASU faculty and staff. These companies and their sub-licensees have attracted more than $600 million in funding from venture capital firms and other investors.
ASU startup companies, including Fluidic Energy, HealthTell, Heliae and Zero Mass Water, received more than $96 million in venture capital funding in FY 2016. ASU-linked startups now employ more than 500 people, many in Arizona.
AzTE has continued to drive an aggressive pipeline of new innovations. This year, ASU faculty working with AzTE submitted 269 invention disclosures, initiated 13 startup companies, and were issued 60 U.S. patents. AzTE also facilitated $16.7 million in industry sponsored research – hard funding for ASU researchers and their labs to pursue solutions to some of industry’s most pressing challenges and biggest opportunities.
The National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association have again ranked ASU as one of the top 100 universities in the world for U.S. utility patents. ASU was ranked 38th, ahead of Duke, Princeton and Yale.
ASU's work in California continues to pay dividends in entrepreneurial engagement. In 2016, the university broadened its collaborative engagement with Draper University, building on work and connections initiated in California by AzTE. Draper University and ASU are combining students and curriculum to launch the Draper/ASU Entrepreneurial Master’s Program, designed to be the top entrepreneurial program in the country. It will culminate in a business plan competition, into which Draper will be investing at least $1 million.
AzTE is also collaborating with the University of Hawaii (UH) to leverage respective areas of expertise. Under a new joint marketing agreement, AzTE is providing marketing services to UH for a broad range of technologies.
Finally, AzTE collaborates with ASU Entrepreneurship and Innovation to provide significant resources to student, faculty and regional entrepreneurs. At ASU, cohort-based accelerators include mentorship and educational components that tap into the robust regional entrepreneurial community through initiatives such as the ASU Startup Mill, which assists company founders in the early stages of new venture creation, product development and market entry.
