Scientists researching the chemical and physical sciences related to cleantech have struggled to commercialize their discoveries. Slowly, though, change is afoot. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Michigan, Stanford University, and University of California (UC) Berkeley all have developed strong programs to help scientists start thinking earlier about the applications of their research and to ensure that their discoveries make the transition from the lab to the real world. “While a lot of the dot-com start-ups were started by students out of their dorm rooms or basements, in the cleantech world you need a lot more than a desktop and a good internet-based idea,” says Shawn Lesser, president and founder of Atlanta-based venture fund Sustainable World Capital. That’s the same conundrum VCs and other investors face when looking at cleantech. While most big-name VCs cut their teeth and made their first millions on IT investments that required little upfront capital, the majority of cleantech investments require lab space, teams of scientists, and time.<\/p>\n
Increasingly, private companies are stepping up to fund more cleantech research at the university level. And as private investors and venture funds demonstrate interest in university research, scientists are becoming more savvy about how their work might translate into commercialization. For example, universities have started everything from cleantech incubators and student-led cleantech venture funds (University of Michigan) to high-profile cleantech prizes (MIT) to cleantech-focused research institutes (Stanford). These institutions and others are benefiting more now than they ever have from private investment in cleantech research.<\/p>\n