Coller Institute of Venture is proud to present the latest issue of Venture Findings, which is devoted to Deep Innovation.
We define Deep Innovation as inventions that are enabled by basic research or a scientific breakthrough. Unlike what we see in the ubiquitous Internet/Cyber startups, these usually entail substantial resources ($5-100M), and may take years (5-20) to materialize. Notable examples can be found in the sectors of:
– Water venture
– Nanotechnology
– Brain tech
– Pharma
The issue includes ten articles which examine this theme from many angles, in domains from Nanotechnology to Food Tech and from Pharma to Materials Science. The authors come from backgrounds as diverse as academia, industry and venture capital. Between them they share success stories and lessons learned, which can also inform and enlighten readers from other fields.
We hope you find our Deep Innovation Issue interesting and important. But even more, we hope to excite and entice you to apply the lessons to your own work and domain.
As always, our issue closes by highlighting recent news compiled by the CIV research team in accordance to the categories of Public Authorities, Institutional Investors, Venture Capitalists, and Entrepreneurs. We look forward to engaging with you in the Coller Institute of Venture Community. Join us as we design the future of venture!
Contents
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 1. The Potential The discovery of Penicillin was one of the most important events in the last 100 years of venture (see the CIV History of Venture database, featured in the previous issue of Venture Findings – #HOV8010) and its story truly brings the context of Deep Innovation to life. When Alexander Fleming discovered that… Read More »
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 Nano is an area where Deep Innovation encounters specific challenges when crossing into commercial applications. To overcome these adversities, Tel Aviv University (TAU) Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (the Center) is actively developing and supporting a model to enable an ecosystem for academic researchers and industry R&D engineers from diverse disciplines to solve Nano problems… Read More »
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 The Consortia for Improving Medicine with Innovation & Technology (CIMIT) was established in 1998 by four leading academic medical centers and universities in the greater Boston area to leverage the value of a consortium to improve patient care through Deep Innovation using medical technology to solve pressing unmet medical needs. CIMIT has since expanded to… Read More »
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 The plague of the 21st century is rooted in the brain. Nearly 100 million Americans suffer from Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders, resulting in an annual economic cost of over US$760 billion. As of 2010, brain disorders affected 38% of Europeans and accounted for about one-third of the total disease burden and direct and indirect… Read More »
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 The journey from initial scientific discovery to pharmaceutical commercialization is long and arduous. There are considerable challenges to taking innovations from academia and translating them into medicines for society. One of the main challenges lies within the gap between academia and industry, often known as ‘translational research’. This stage is frequently referred to as the… Read More »
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 Due to its pervasiveness and rapid development, Nanotechnology has been recognized as a key technology of the next decades, which will strongly affect both firms’ and countries’ competitiveness and growth potential. Since 2000, several countries have launched national research projects, similar to the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) (http:// www.nano.gov), and adopted technology policies to… Read More »
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 Contrary to the commonly held perception, it is possible to make money in Water technology ventures, but in order to do so entrepreneurs and investors must have an in-depth understanding of the market, the technological challenges, the regulatory landscape, and the investment horizons. They must also set realistic expectations regarding their potential returns. In fact… Read More »
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 The evolving concept of food technology The Western industrialized food system that we know today is a recent phenomenon. For example, in the early 1900s, the majority of the U.S. population lived in rural communities and food manufacturing was relatively local and small scale. With the rise of industrialization, more people moved to jobs in… Read More »
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 As the Earth’s population grows and its climate changes, new solutions will be needed for sustainable development. Increased average temperatures and more extreme temperatures will affect precipitation patterns, as well as the rates at which water evaporates from soil and passes through plants. Feeding more people on a tighter water regime will require the wisest… Read More »
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 Deep Innovation in science and technology, particularly the development of new technologies or products based on scientific discoveries in U.S. academic institutions, has been a challenge for decades. The U.S. government, through its research funding agencies, has addressed this challenge by developing a myriad of funding programs, most notably the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)… Read More »
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Coller Institute of Venture at Tel Aviv University