Innovation Enterprise
Overview
helping inventors & entrEpreneurs from lab to market
At the University of South Florida, our robust innovation ecosystem supports researchers, inventors, and entrepreneurs as they translate technology from the lab to the marketplace. Our expertise, resources, and facilities work together to foster the growth of early-stage technologies and entrepreneurial start-up companies.
Technology Transfer Office
The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) turns ground-breaking research into real-world solutions through intellectual property protection, licensing and marketing. TTO works with companies interested in licensing or starting a new business around USF patents and intellectual property, and with USF researchers and students to ready new inventions for the patenting process and potential licensing opportunities. TTO helps inventors prepare their inventions for patenting.
TTO promotes and facilitates business development and entrepreneurship by bringing researchers together with experienced entrepreneurs and investors to form companies for the purpose of commercializing USF technologies. We have over 600 technologies available for licensing opportunities.
USF Research Foundation
USF supports economic development in the Tampa Bay region and the State of Florida by educating and training students for productive careers, by supporting research and technology transfer, and by providing information and scholarly resources needed by the community.
The USF Research Foundation supports this mission and enhances the research activities of USF faculty, staff, and students. Through its programs, the USF Research Foundation, Inc., brings together the strengths of USF and the region to provide a critical interface that stimulates high-tech and biotech industries and creates jobs. The USF Research Foundation, owns and operates the USF Research Park.
USF CONNECT
USF CONNECT is a business and economic development initiative of the University of South Florida that provides support for companies including technology and life science startups by facilitating access to top-tier research, programming, faculty, students, supporting organizations and funding sources through:
USF CONNECT focuses on the needs of Tampa Bay's technology and bio/life sciences entrepreneurs, providing the facilities, partners and resources for successful business development, including access to technologies, workforce programs, technology commercialization, critical research equipment, incubator facilities, faculty researchers, student interns, and a matching grants program.
Florida High Tech Corridor
An economic development initiative of three research universities – the University of Central Florida, the University of South Florida and the University of Florida – Florida High Tech Corridor converges and catalyzes the capacity of high tech, innovation and bright minds across a 23-county region to generate a global ripple effect that advances the lives of people in the communities it serves.
The Corridor offers multiple funding opportunities at USF to support collaborative industry research, early-stage faculty innovation, and undergraduate research through its:
Innovation Partnerships
- The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame honors and celebrates those inventors whose achievements have advanced the quality
of life for Floridians, our state and our nation.
- I-Corps at USF teaches university entrepreneurs with a targeted curriculum to identify valuable
product opportunities that can emerge from academic research, and offers entrepreneurship
training to participants.
- The Institute for Advanced Discovery and Innovation brings together internationally recognized senior leaders—academics, industry heads,
and innovators from diverse fields—to advise the administrative leadership of the
university, share insights with USF's high-achieving faculty, mentor the university's
most promising students, and make lasting contributions to both the Tampa Bay Area
and the state of Florida.
- The National Academy of Inventors honors academic invention; recognizes and encourages inventors; enhances the visibility
of university and non-profit research institute technology and innovation; encourages
the disclosure of intellectual property; educates and mentors innovative students;
and translates the inventions of its members to benefit society. The USF Chapter of the NAI is open to all members of the USF community including alumni and affiliates who have
received an issued patent from the USPTO.
- The Tampa Bay Regional Consortium is working to drive inclusive development, innovation, and prosperity across the Tampa Bay region. Through collective action, strategic partnerships and open collaboration, Tampa Bay can accelerate its growth in key technology sectors to create a vibrant ecosystem that empowers individuals, strengthens communities, and advances the region as a hub of opportunity and excellence.