Page 20 - October 2023 FOCUS Magazine

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION
50 YEARS OF IMPACT AND PARTNERSHIPS

After the Bayh-Dole Act passed in 1980, MSU turned resources and expertise while
to supporting the transfer of technologies from the continuing to ensure support for
university to the marketplace with support from the tomorrow’s generation of MSU
Foundation. The Foundation launched its first startup innovators,” said Dr. Melissa Woo,
company with its 1982 investment in the Lansing- Ph.D., executive vice president
based food safety company Neogen Corporation, which for administration at MSU and
eventually became a public company with over 1,800 president of the MSU Research
employees worldwide. Foundation. “Those dollars are
vital not only for supporting MSU
Over the past decade the Foundation established research, but for maintaining Woo
several entities designed to support the startup a strong university overall.
community. In 2012, Spartan Innovations was Foundation funding helps MSU recruit and retain
established as a wholly owned subsidiary focused on faculty, support the arts and humanities, and advance
venture creation activities. Three years later, Red Cedar entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Ventures was established as a venture fund, providing
early-stage financing to MSU startup companies. In Dr. Woo says the Research Foundation benefits the
2019, the Foundation was awarded management of the university in many ways, including grants to faculty
Michigan Rise Pre-Seed III Fund, a $15.3 million Pre-Seed researchers, resources to recruit and retain faculty,
venture fund from the State of Michigan. support for students, and funds to build new facilities and
acquire equipment in support of research.
“We made a decision as a Board,
together with the University, that “The Foundation supports the overall costs associated
leaning into entrepreneurial activity with commercializing intellectual property. Through
and startups was an important the Foundation’s subsidiaries, Spartan Innovations,
thing that the Foundation should Red Cedar Ventures, Michigan Rise and research
be assisting both the community park, our investments help MSU achieve its economic
and the University with,” said development goals outlined in the MSU 2030 Strategic
Randolph Cowen, MSU Research Plan,” said Dr. Woo.
Foundation board chair and
retired CIO of Goldman Sachs. “We Cowen FACILITATING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
started a committee that was The MSU Research Foundation has developed a
focused on developing the entrepreneurial sub-system comprehensive network of programs that provide crucial
around the University. Those milestones were important support to organizations at all stages of development in
in expanding our land grant philosophy and impact the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
expanding the funds and resources we had available to
build that startup ecosystem.” Spartan Innovations provides business development
services to commercialize intellectual property best
SUPPORT FOR MICHIGAN STATE commercialized via a new startup company. Spartan
UNIVERSITY Innovations partners with regional economic
The Research Foundation’s mission is to serve development agencies and SmartZones across
Michigan State University. The Foundation the state and runs six accelerator programs and
invested the royalties from the Cisplatin associated services across locations in East
discovery to support and encourage Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Detroit to bring
research at Michigan State University. The new technologies to market.
portfolio has grown to half a billion
dollars in restricted and unrestricted Red Cedar Ventures fund has
funds. Through this portfolio, the SINCE invested more than $10 million
Foundation provides over $10 1973, THE MSU in over 125 companies in
million each year to MSU. RESEARCH FOUNDATION the ecosystem and has
HAS BECOME A NATIONAL partnered with the
“This allows us to LEADER IN SUPPORT FOR Michigan Economic
support research ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND FACILITATING Development
and innovation at Corporation
MSU through ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH (MEDC) to
investments MODERN COMMERCIALIZATION PRACTICES, establish
of VENTURE CREATION ACTIVITY AND INNOVATION the
PARTNERSHIPS AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
AND ACROSS THE STATE OF MICHIGAN.
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