US cleantech startups, working with government research organizations, are more successful than their competitors in both patents and investor acquisition. This is shown by a study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the University of Maryland and the University of Cambridge. Such cooperation could be of particular importance due to the protracted development of “green” technologies – also in Germany.
In the United States, the state runs numerous national research institutions
Under the direction of the Ministry of Energy, 17 institutes, such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), work alone. In the public debate, however, it is controversial to what extent they should be active in applied research, especially in cooperation with companies, and in technology transfer.
Researchers at Technische Universität München (TUM), the University of Maryland and the University of Cambridge have therefore examined the activities of some 650 cleantech startups between 2008 and 2012, ie companies offering products or services with “clean” technologies , These include, for example, renewable energy and recycling. Above all, the researchers took a close look at patents and financing that are seen as a sign of innovation and business success in young companies.
Investing funds increased by 150 percent in one year
The study shows that the startups were able to increase their patent activities on average by 73 percent when working with government agencies. This number refers to individual cooperations. Licensed startups A technology developed by a government institution enabled them to increase the total investor funds by more than 150 percent the following year. This made them more than twice as successful in financing as other startups. Some of the most successful alliances have worked outside major technology centers such as Silicon Valley.
The scientists assume that state-private partnerships are of particular value in the cleantech sector, not least in the energy sector. Because technology development takes a lot of time here, companies have more difficult start-up conditions than in the IT sector. This disadvantage could be compensated by long-term public institutions.