High growth? High impact? Three EPO case studies highlight how IP impacts the transformation of research into ventures ready to lift off  

In April 2021, Nasa’s helicopter, Ingenuity, made its maiden flight on Mars. Its promise of a new era in exploration was realized in part using a lightweight, durable fabric of carbon fibre developed and commercialised at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. Impact at scale is being researched at University College Dublin too. There, researchers have re-written the rules for electrical muscle stimulation and laid the foundation for a $45 million venture, Atlantic Therapeutics. For a team of four female inventors at Ege University in Turkey, failure seemed the most likely outcome time and again. Now their product is on the shelves and they are running their own commercial R&D company, Dermis Pharma. In these three EPO case studies, multiple actors were involved in converting research into real-world uses. In combination, they offer a series of IP pointers for how to create ventures ready to lift-off. Here are ten highlights:

• Create IP that gives you the power to pivot. At the beginning, you can then try out as many business models as you like.