Visualizing Innovation Capital
A Case study of Technology Transfer and Biomedical start-up
Innovation CapitalIntellectual CapitalBiotechnologyPatentsIntangiblesTechnology TransferManagement of enterprisesFöretagsledningManagementBusiness and Economics
Purpose: The purpose is to present a greater understanding of the progression of innovation capital in a technology transfer and biotech start-up context. The findings offer technology transfer professionals, entrepreneurs and academia an overall perception and mental framework of the technology transfer practice and the embracement of a promising invention, building upon its hidden value. Methodology: The thesis was conducted using a qualitative case study, executed with the help of interviews, in order to answer the research question: How is an embryo of innovation capital continuously cultivated in a technology transfer and biomedical start-up process? Conclusions: A technology transfer entity provides the means to establish a platform where an entrepreneur can build its own human capital, structural capital, and relationship capital. The forms of capital interact and thus create value, herein considered as innovation capital. Whilst the interaction is increased, the ability of renewal is improved and results start to amass, thus innovation capital is elevated. The results may be seen as an accumulated mass of explicit knowledge. The mass is in need of safeguarding in order to appropriate the rents from innovation and hence the use of patent protection is put into effect, turning intellectual assets into intellectual property rights. The value from this is derived from two aspects: commercial value of safeguarded explicit knowledge mass and degree of uncertainty. This matches up to the corporate valuing mechanism, market value added, argued to be the most appropriate in the intangible value chain.