About
The mission of TNO’s Tech Transfer Program is to ensure that the research that TNO does translates into new products and services that provide solutions for a safe, healthy, sustainable, and digital society. The program focuses on the final stages of the innovation process by providing support in developing business cases and determining the best route to the market. Our goal is to accelerate the market introduction of TNO technology by creating spin-off companies and providing licences to existing organisations. By doing so, we bridge the gap between research and innovation.
Much of the developed knowledge at TNO is introduced to the market through existing research partners. However, in a growing number of industries, like Cleantech and Medtech, substantial private funding is needed to develop a market-ready product. Furthermore, some innovations are so disruptive that they do not fit into the existing value chain, for example Deep Tech developments, such as quantum computing and (integrated) photonics. In such cases, it is explored whether a new company, a TNO spin-off, can be established.
Key figures
Since the start of the Tech Transfer program in 2017:
- 41 spin-offs have been founded
- 36 of these companies are still active, 2 have exited and are 3 were dissolved
- This leads to a survival rate of 93%
- 631 people work at these spin-offs
- €273M of external funding has been raised by these companies
- 110 Tech Transfer projects were started
These numbers where last benchmarked on 01-01-2024.
History
Before the start of the current Tech Transfer program in 2017 TNO was also active in corporate venturing. Including those founded before 2017, TNO has launched more that 100 companies. The ventures founded before the start of the current program were sold to First Dutch Innovations. You can read more about the nature and impact of these innovations on the First Dutch Innovations webpage.