Business support activities in HUT

transcript

Business support Business support activities in HUTactivities in HUT

Petro Suvanto

Business Consultant OIIC

2.4.2004

Academic Academic EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship

• Entrepreneurial spirit combined with the academic education

• Source for the hi-tech growth companies

• Promoted by the universities and the government

TopicsTopics• Basics

– Business idea– Team– Capital

• Inventions• Companies• Tools

– Business consultancy– InnoTULI– InnoLinko– Spinno– Networking

BasicsBasics

• Business idea

• Team

• Capital

Business idea (1/3)Business idea (1/3)

• What you are selling?– products, knowledge, etc.

• To whom you are selling?– businesses, consumers

• How you are selling?– Licensing, one-time sales

• Examples:

– Selling new copy machines

– Software subcontracting

– Teaching new methods for IPR management

– Tool for efficient logistics

– etc.

Should be

clear to you before

you can sell it to your customer!!

Team (1/3)Team (1/3)

• Alone is hard to success

– You have only 24-hour a day!

– You are not a master of all trades!

• With trusted partners it is easier to continue

– more ideas

– shared responsibility

– faster process

• Different types of skills are needed

– technological skills

– managerial skills

– marketing skills

However,

typical number of

founders is

2-3 people!!

Capital (1/5)Capital (1/5)

• Money is needed to run a business:

– salaries

– equipments

– travelling

– marketing

– external services

– etc

• Sources of the funding:

– own resources

– banks

– business angels

– venture capitalists

– TEKES and other public sources

– customers

• In the business idea stage, need for the capital not very high

– much can be done by own work

– public sources available

• In a mature company, money for the operation comes from the customer

• In between, the funding may come from external sources

• External capital enhance the business growth with the price of losing equity

LuckLuck

InventionsInventions

• HUT acts with Finnish Foundation for Inventions to support protections and commercialization of the inventions done by the personnel and the students of HUT

• Two innovation managers in HUT:

– Panu Kuosmanen

– Tuomas Mennola

Companies (1/2)Companies (1/2)

• Each year dozens of companies are established by the students and the personnel of HUT

• Companies can be established based on the research results

• Business activities can be carried out while working or studying

• However, working full-time in a company gives creditability

Companies (2/2)Companies (2/2)

• One or two man consultant companies

• Software companies

• Companies based on the inventions created in the laboratory

• Companies based on the knowledge and the contacts received in the laboratory

• Companies based on the ideas derived from the academic studies

Tools for business supportTools for business support

• Business consultancy

• InnoTULI: support for external services

• InnoLinko: support for business space

• Spinno Business Development Centre

• Networking

Business consultancyBusiness consultancy

• From business idea stage to early months of the company

• an ousider look to business idea and team

• 2-10 meetings with the entrepreuneurs during one to six months

• in each meeting action points are given

InnoTULI (1/5)InnoTULI (1/5)

• Money to support business ideas by external services

• InnoTULI is a TEKES funded project to support commercialization of the research results in Otaniemi area

• Main sources of business ideas are HUT and VTT (Technical Researach Center of Finland)

• Fast process

• The ideas are collected, evaluated, and the mature ones are supported

• A mature case: reasonable business idea with the commitment to pursue further

• Each year 150 prospective ideas of which 60-80 cases funded

• The measurement to support the cases are evaluated and decided by the InnoTULI experts

– consensus opinion of at least 4 experts

– project group (10 persons) makes a final decision each month

• However, all the actions must be approved by the entrepreneurs!!

• Support for the cases can be:– Market research– Business model– Legal services– Contacts with the prospective clients– Markets– etc

• Activities last from one month to three months

• 35-45% of the cases are commercialized (company established or licencing agreement)

Contact persons in HUT: Petro Suvanto and Panu Kuosmanen

InnoLinko (1/4)InnoLinko (1/4)

• Space to develop business ideas

• Early-stage business incubator

• Located in Otaniemi Technology Park

• For the students and researchers of HUT

• The committed teams with a business idea

• Company may have been founded beforehand

• Open office or individual rooms

• Free or subsidized

• Available for 6 months

• Flexible transfer to the inbubator, when the company gets funding or reaches positive cash flow

• Mailbox

• Fax

• Copy machines

• Internet connection

• Conference rooms

• Support for Business development

– establishing a company

– business plan

– networking

– weekly round table discussions

Contact person in Otaniemi region: Tuomas Maisala

Venture CupVenture Cup

• A business plan competition

• Expert coaching and feedback to the teams

• Participation free, monetary prizes!!

Contact person in HUT: Maija Hellman

Spinno Business Spinno Business Development CentreDevelopment Centre

• Training activities focus on

– business development

– growth and internationalization

• Networking

• HelpDesk

• Aiming for the success of participating companies

Spinno HiTech (1/3)Spinno HiTech (1/3)

• A year-long business development program for new entrepreneurs and companies

• Program includes

– 20 seminar days

– 3-7consultancy days

– HelpDesk

• Heavily subsidized

• Seminar days (4-6 hours), once or twice a month, cover basic business areas:

– financial planning an accounting

– marketing and market information

– selling

– IPR and contractual aspects

– Human resources and management

– Growth and internatiolalization

• Consultancy days for specific needs of a company

• Panel of high-level advisors available, use of own consultant allowed

Spinno HelpDeskSpinno HelpDesk

• Quick support for

– juridical questions

– financicial and strategic aspects

– recruiting and human resources

– market and competition information

• Short consultancies free!

Networking (1/3)Networking (1/3)

• Networks within HUT,Otaniemi, Helsinki region, elsewhere in Finland (e.g. Southern Savonia)

• European networks (Proton, IRC)

• Contacts to all over the world

• Mentors for the companies established by the students

– HUT alumni

– HUT personnel

– Spinno mentors

– Business angels

• Customers

• Project partners

• Strategic partners

• University partners

TargetsTargets

• Founding new companies faster

• Profitable business

• Business plan for VC:s

CompaniesCompanies

• Icareus Oy: content expertise for digi-TV

• Adaptamat Oy: magentic shape materials

• Trueflaw Oy: material qualification

• Jamera Networks Oy: recycling school books

• Finmeas Oy: environmental measurements

Business support activities in HUT

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