Main conference
Day 1
May 27 2008
8:00-9:00 Registration and breakfast reception
9:00-9:30 Opening remarks from the Chair
State of the market: Framework for IP Innovation for universities, corporate and government labs
Hamish Hawthorn, chief executive officer, ATP Innovations
9:30-10:30 Deal partnerships: How investors and knowledge transfer officers can work together
This panel explores how collaborations between academia and venture capitalists can be mutually beneficial and how they can accelerate scientific growth.
- Modes of entry
- Successful partnership models
- Avoiding pitfalls in the deal process
- Investors' shopping lists
Moderator: Katherine Woodthorpe, chief executive, AVCAL
Panel:
- Steve Brodie, senior business development manager, NewSouth Innovations
- Hun Gan, partner, Starfish Ventures
- Andy Sierakowski, director,Office of Industry & Innovation, University of Western Australia and chairman, Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA)
- Gregory Smith, partner, SciVentures
- David Rowe, investment manager, Uniseed Management Pty
10:30-11:00 Networking and refreshment break
11:00-12:00 Assessing and valuing early stage technology & commercialisation viability
- Prospecting, connecting, monitoring, motivating
- Screening and validating
- Viable strategies and valuation basis
- Creating value in the go and no-go cases
- Comparisons with approaches, metrics and benchmarks locally and overseas
Moderator: Marcus Tarrant, manager-professional services, Offspring Ventures
Panel:
- Richard Dale, director & COMET *business adviser, Argo Partners Pty Limited
*COMET (Commercialising Emerging Technologies) is a Commonwealth grant program delivered by Ausindustry.
- Jan Dekker, investment principal, Cleantech Ventures Pty Ltd
- Tim Hirst, chief executive officer, ANU Connect Ventures Pty Ltd
- Peter Janssen, commercialisation manager, Innovation and Knowledge Division La Trobe University
- Nick McNaughton, chief executive officer, Blue Cove Ventures Pty Ltd
12:00-12:30 Growing Spin Outs Into Real Companies
Case Studies from Uniseed
Peter Devine, chief executive officer, Uniseed Management Pty Ltd
This case study will focus on general models of university spinouts and funding rounds with examples including:
- QRx Pharma - UQ spinout that listed on ASX May-07 at $100m pre money valuation with $50m raised
- Fultec Semiconductor - UQ spinout that has now moved to USA with funding from US VCs
- Xerocoat - UQ spinout that has now moved to USA with funding from US VCs
- Wedgetail - UQ spinout that moved to USA and was sold for US$100m
12:30-2:00 Luncheon Reception
2:00-3:00 University - industry collaborations and deal structures
- Establishing a corporate culture of innovation and profitability
- Accessing potential acquisition candidates
- Identifying new applications for technologies
- Licensing challenges
- Pipeline to P\partnerships
- How to market university IP to corporations
Moderator: Malcolm Donnell, manager - technology transfer unit, Sydnovate
Panel:
- Leo Hyde, director R&D, Dupont Australia
- Phil Kearney, manager external licensing, Merck Sharp & Dohme Australia
- Roger Price, general partner, Innovation Capital
- Dan Grant, head of strategic alliances, Pfizer Australia
3:00-3:30 FIRESIDE CHAT: How institutional investors are funding knowledge transfer deals
Charles Day, managing director, Melbourne Ventures
Interviews: Paul Cheever, managing director, Access Capital Advisers Pty Ltd
3:30-4:00 Networking and refreshment break
4:00-5:00 Speed networking session
Speed networking is the new, exciting and highly productive way to meet your fellow delegates and industry leaders - all in the one place! Maximise the value of your time at the 2008 Tech Transfer Investing conference and capitalise on this opportunity to meet more people in a sixty minute session than you could anywhere else. Use this fun, fast-paced session to exchange business cards, set up meetings, and initiate profitable business relationships.
5:00 Wine and cheese reception
Day 2
May 28 2008
8:30-9:00 Working breakfast presentation: CLEANTECH
Turning green into gold - findings of the first-ever comprehensive analysis of cleantech venture capital, buyouts, merger and acquisition and IPO activity in Australia
Hosted by: Cleantech Ventures
9:00 Opening remarks from the chair
Hamish Hawthorn, chief executive officer, ATP Innovations
9:05-10:00 IP monetisation strategies for optimising value
- Choosing when to license and when to assign
- What is in the deal? Patents, trademarks and other valuable IP
- Create new revenue streams without any further investment
- Extract more value from intellectual assets
- Tax issues within research and development
- Promote an innovative corporate culture
Facilitators
- Matthew Griffiths, Managing Director, Freebird Group
- Kevin W. L. Croft, Managing Director, Croft IP
- Tim Jones, IP Counsel, Ipernica ltd
- Ken Preshaw, Licensing Executive for Intellectual Property Licensing and
- Asset Commercialisation (IP&AC) IBM
- Paul van Bergen, Partner, Research & Development Tax, KPMG
10:00-10:30 Beyond startup: Setting the foundation for investable and sustainable companies
- Where's the money and how to get it
- Building relationships with the private equity community
- Following on financing
- Technology licensing
- Partnering with industry early for acquisition
- Royalty monetisation
- Strategic advisory
Speakers
- Brendan Coady, Partner, Intellectual Property Group, Gilbert +Tobin
- Deborah Johns, Partner, Corporate, Communications and Technology Group.
Gilbert +Tobin
10:30-11:00 Building a regional pipeline: Fostering economic development within regions
What are the needed ingredients to accelerate the transition of early stage technologies from the laboratory to the market place? Dr. Hudson discusses UWS strategic imperative of engagement with the Greater Western Sydney region in fostering economic development.
Dr Kerry Hudson, director, Innovation & Consulting, University of Western Sydney
11:00-11:30 Refreshments and networking break
11:30-12:00 Lessons learned: Creating and growing spin-outs from public sector research organizations
- War-stories - Spotting the spin-out red flags
- Common features emerging from successful spin-out transactions
- Darren Cundy, manager: Australian Growth Partnerships Program, CSIRO Corporate Business Services
12:00-12:30 Enhancing innovation commercialization at the university level
- How to enhance faculty entrepreneurship
- Stimulating industry relevant innovation
- Stakeholder buy-in on a commercialisation strategy
- Attracting industry collaborations
- Servicing and maintaining industry relationships
- Doing a deal
Speaker: Nick Marsh, executive manager, Industry Engagement & Commercialisation
Research & Innovation Office, University of Technology, Sydney
12:30-1:00 The growing importance of angel investors in tech transfer deals
Angel investors are wealthy individuals who invest in seed and early stage ventures by reserving a portion of their total investment portfolios to provide emerging companies with seed capital through direct, private investments. Their goal is to achieve higher returns than the typical public markets provide. Most angels are active investors - who contribute their time and experience, as well as offer introductions to valuable contacts essential to the companys success.
Leading Angels will discuss:
- Selection and criteria
- Reaching benchmarks and metrics for success
- Utilizing strategic management skills to enhance business development
- Getting to the next round of financing
- Angel shopping lists
- GAP Funding
Discussion
- John Ballard, director, BR Angels Pty Ltd
- Lisa Nolan, director, Strategon
1:00-2:00 Luncheon reception
2:00-3:30 The new captains of innovation knowledge transfer showcase - 10 company presentations
Cleantech, IT, Biotech, Nanotech and Medtech Companies
3:30 Conference adjourns
