StrategyInventors and firms seeking to commercialize agbioscience innovations face substantial obstacles. Existing markets may place barriers in the way of commercialization. Current markets or prevailing contracting arrangements may not provide appropriate incentives for product adoption. Research and development expenditures are typically large, requiring external financing. However, high risk of failure makes makes it difficult to attract capital from traditional sources. Venture capital markets are characterized by high transactions costs.The Center for Innovation-Based Enterprise (CIBE) addresses these and other barriers to product commercialization by providing
leading edge research into entrepreneurship, contract design, finance,
marketing, and risk management for innovation-based and start-up agbioscience
 Figure: The process of product development and commercialization Invention is the discovery of basic knowledge, concept or process that has potential value. However, the invention may be of little or no commercial value in its raw form. Innovation is the process by which basic research findings are transformed into products, processes, or services desired by producers and/or consumers. Product innovation may require significant investments in research and development (R&D). In some cases, equity venture funding is required to provide sufficient R&D investment. The Center provides economic and market intelligence to guide product R&D, increasing the likelihood that the product will be successful. Evaluating potential markets for products/processes that are new and different is a major challenge, and traditional methods of demand analysis are inadequate for this purpose. The regulatory environment also impacts the commercial potential of new products and the cost of new product development. In industries with high levels of regulation, required product testing may impose substantial direct costs, and may significantly extend the length of time required to gain regulatory agency approvals prior to marketing. Industry structure and closely developed supply chain relationships may also pose additional barriers to entry of a new enterprise. The Center makes important contributions to lowering these barriers through systematic evaluation of such factors via consumer, firm and industry studies. The economic intelligence created from these research increases the probability of market success.
Center for Innovation-Based Enterprise, Agricultural, Environmental, & Development Economics |