Univerzitné spin-off firmy: Aké sú? (prípadová štúdia Slovenskej poľnohospodárskej univerzity v Nitre)

Abstract

The transfer of research and development results into application sphere takes place in the university environment in a variety of ways. One of them is the establishment of a spin-off firm. From general definition of a spin-off, it is an independent firm founded to commercialize university knowledge. The understanding of spin-off firms and spin-off processes in the literature differs significantly. The aim of the paper is to identify existing and potential spin-off companies in the environment of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, to describe their specificities in comparison to orthodox defined spin-off firms, to evaluate the conditions for their establishment, to examine the process of commercialization of intellectual property from the birth of the idea to the establishment of own firm or technology licensing. On the examples of selected spin-off firms, we analyze the personal motives and barriers that influenced the founders in the development of technology and the commercialization of research results and the key factors that influenced the founder in the development and commercialization of technology. The contribution is based on case studies of three spin-off firms founded by university staff, in order to exploit the knowledge produced by university activities with a prospect of profiting.