Over the years, scholarly interest in the role of business models to unlock the value of latent technology has increased. It is argued that the commercialisation of new technology requires business models that respond to a myriad of challenges and market needs. However, limited attention has been paid to understand how early-stage business models are developed to commercialise new university technology. Specifically, there are limited studies scrutinising the early-stage business models developed by University Spin-Offs (USOs), despite the fact that these are breeding grounds for new technology with commercial potential. Therefore, this thesis examines how USOs develop early-stage business models to commercialise new technology for the cleantech industry. To achieve this, an in-depth case study of four cleantech USOs at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom was performed. Sixty interviews with multiple stakeholders were conducted, and effectual logic and the concept of opportunity creation were adopted to inform the investigation. The findings, presented in a conceptual framework, suggest that USOs develop early-stage business models through three interlocking mechanisms. First, value is created through flow-field control, which is achieved by taking active control over a firm's resources and capabilities. Second, value is captured through pragmatic kinesis, defined as being sensible when moving towards profit. Third, value network is managed through deliberate temperament, which is used to align stakeholders' expectations. Along with these findings, the thesis also advances COPE principles (i.e. take control, create opportunities, forge partnerships and embrace contingencies) as parameters for the development of early-stage business models. The empirical evidence offers a critical logical shift in our understanding of early-stage business models development for commercialising university technology in the cleantech industry. The conceptual framework responds to scholarly inquiries to improve the theoretical grounding and construct clarity of business models. The thesis also informs policymakers about the pitfalls and opportunities associated with new technology commercialisation in the cleantech industry, where uncertainties are ubiquitous.

Spin offs universitárias são empreendimentos gerados a partir de ativos de conhecimento desenvolvidos em uma universidade, com o objetivo de transformar aqueles conhecimentos em produtos ou serviços a serem comercializados. É uma das formas de transferência de tecnologia da universidade para a sociedade. Por seus potenciais impactos sobre localidades, países, competitividade, cultura empreendedora, difusão das inovações, geração de empregos qualificados e renda, as spin offs universitárias são objeto de interesse de diversos atores. Quais os fatores que influenciam o sucesso de empresas spin offs brasileiras foi a pergunta que norteou esta pesquisa. A metodologia utilizada foi qualitativa, através do estudo multicasos de oito empresas spin offs de sucesso geradas a partir do conhecimento produzido em duas instituições acadêmicas de engenharia: a Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo e a COPPE da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Foram realizadas 25 entrevistas com empreendedores e atores das universidades, complementadas com a coleta e análise de dados públicos. O modelo conceitual desenvolvido é multiníveis e composto por seis camadas: o contexto nacional; o contexto regional; a universidade; a instituição acadêmica; o laboratório ou grupo de pesquisa e, por fim, as empresas spin offs. As principais conclusões do trabalho foram que todos as camadas afetam o sucesso das empresas. No contexto nacional, o marco regulatório brasileiro é favorável à geração e desenvolvimento das spin offs, apesar de apresentar dubiedades, ser recente e ainda estar incompleto. As instituições federais nacionais possuem linhas de crédito que são acessadas pelas empresas. Na análise do contexto regional foi confirmada a importância das condições de fatores regionais que influenciaram o desenvolvimento das empresas, que utilizaram para seu desenvolvimento fontes de financiamento, acessaram clientes inovadores, rede de fornecedores e investidores das suas respectivas regiões. Não se confirmou uma conclusão da literatura de que as condições regionais seriam mais importantes que as nacionais, talvez esta seja uma das particularidades do caso brasileiro. Com relação às universidades, apesar de contarem com as suas organizações de apoio, como Núcleo de Inovação Tecnológica, incubadoras e parques tecnológicos, não possuem políticas e ações claras de apoio ao empreendedorismo acadêmico e os ambientes regulatórios estão incompletos. A mesma falta de ações claras e a incompletude de regulamentação foi observada nas duas instituições acadêmicas - em uma delas as ações e políticas são mais desenvolvidos. As instituições acadêmicas possuem alto relacionamento com empresas e suas atividades de ensino e pesquisa são de excelência, as mesmas características foram observadas nos laboratórios. Com relação às empresas spin offs, 50% tiveram sua gênese espontânea e 50% planejada, as equipes empreendedoras em 37,5% dos casos eram mistas, composta por pesquisadores e profissionais experientes e 62,5% born global. Como contribuições, salienta-se a necessidade de sanar as dubiedades e complementar os ambientes regulatórios federal, regional e da universidade; criar programas de apoio ao empreendedorismo acadêmico nas instituições acadêmicas; reconhecer e cultivar seus casos de spin offs de sucesso pelos atores da universidade; fortalecer os NITs das universidade para que possam realizar adequadamente sua missão. / Academic spin offs are companies funded by entrepreneurs from a knowledge asset created in a university, in order to transform that knowledge in products and services. It is an alternative of technology transfer from the university to society. University spin-offs are object of interest of many actors because of their potential impacts on regions, countries, competitiveness, entrepreneurial culture, diffusion of innovations, generation of qualified jobs and income. \"What factors influence the success of Brazilian spin off companies?\" That was the guide question to this research. The methodology was qualitative; through a multi-case study of eight spin off successful companies. The eight cases were generated from the knowledge produced in two academic engineering institutions: the Escola Politécnica of the University of São Paulo and COPPE of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. We carried out 25 interviews with entrepreneurs and actors of the universities, complemented by the collection and analysis of public data. The conceptual model was developed from the literature review, it is multilevel and composed of six layers: the national context; the regional context; the university; the academic institution; the laboratory and the spin-off company. The main conclusions were that all factors affect the success of companies. In the national context, the Brazilian regulatory framework supports the generation and development of spin-offs, despite having ambiguities, being new and still incomplete. The national federal institutions have credit lines that are accessed by the companies. In the regional context, the analysis confirms the importance of the regional conditions that affected the development of the firms. These firms accessed credit lines, innovative customers, suppliers and investors networks of the regions. Whereas in the literature the conclusion of regional conditions were more important than national conditions, it was not confirmed in this research, perhaps this is one of the peculiarities of the Brazilian case. Regarding universities, despite both count on their support organizations such as the Technology Transfer Offices, incubators and science parks, they do not have clear policies and actions to support the academic entrepreneurship and the regulatory environments are incomplete. Similar unclear actions and regulatory incompleteness were observed in both academic institutions - in one of them actions and policies are more developed. Both have intense relationship with companies and their academic and research activities achieve high standards, the same characteristics were observed in the laboratories. Regarding the spin off companies, 50% had their spontaneous genesis, in 37.5% the entrepreneurial teams were mixed, consisting of researchers and experienced professionals and 62.5% were born global. Some contributions of the study were the need to: remove the ambiguities and complement federal, regional and university regulatory environments; create programs to support the academic entrepreneurship in academic institutions; know, recognize and cultivate spin offs success stories by the university actors; and strengthen the technology transfer offices in the universities so that they can properly carry out their missions.

O objetivo principal do trabalho foi analisar o surgimento de spin-offs acadêmicos, com foco específico naqueles que tiveram como origem as pesquisas desenvolvidas nas áreas das ciências naturais (com ênfase na física e na química), a fim de se compreender as semelhanças e as particularidades dessas empresas, tomando-as como um grupo idiossincrático dentro do conjunto de empresas nascentes de base tecnológica. Para tanto, através de uma abordagem exploratória qualitativa, foram realizados três estudos de caso em empresas nas áreas de química e física fundadas entre a década de 1990 e os dias atuais, criadas por pesquisadores graduados em instituições públicas de ensino superior do Estado de São Paulo, e que estão ou estiveram incubadas. Assim, foram realizadas análises do contexto ligado à ciência, à tecnologia e à inovação e da evolução da missão da Universidade, bem como das políticas públicas e das instituições ligadas à C,T&I no Brasil. Desse modo, foi possível elencar a importância das iniciativas de estímulo ao relacionamento Universidade-Empresa, à transferência/licenciamento de tecnologias e à criação de spin-offs, além da necessidade de estruturação dos NITs, das incubadoras e dos parques tecnológicos, enquanto instituições formais de fomento e suporte ao empreendedorismo no meio acadêmico. Para que esse contexto pudesse ser tratado em conjunto com o desenvolvimento fundamental da ciência, a revisão bibliográfica tratou das formas de produção do conhecimento, assim como dos modelos de estruturação da pesquisa acadêmica. Além disso, foi realizada uma exposição dos conceitos ligados ao empreendedorismo acadêmico, bem como das definições, modelos de desenvolvimento e fatores que impactam o processo de criação e desenvolvimento de spin-offs acadêmicos. Assim, através de estudos de múltiplos casos, foi possível concluir que existem particularidades ligadas ao empreendedor e à sua empresa, relativas ao seu processo de criação e desenvolvimento, à importância dos recursos, à constituição societária e formação da equipe, ao processo de desenvolvimento de produtos e à articulação do seu modelo de negócios, que impactam sobremaneira o seu crescimento. No contexto das ciências naturais, apesar da importância da geração de spin-offs (no processo de transferência do conhecimento da universidade ao mercado) e da notoriedade científica de pesquisadores acadêmicos e de grupos de pesquisa no Brasil, ainda são poucos os casos de empreendedores de sucesso. Esses casos são importantes no estímulo à carreira empreendedora entre os acadêmicos e profissionais dessas áreas, como exemplos que favorecerão à criação de uma cultura para geração de novas empresas de origem acadêmica nesse meio. / This thesis analyzes the emergence of academic spin-offs, with a specific focus on those derived from basic knowledge in the natural sciences (mainly Physics and Chemistry). The main interest was to understand the similarities and particularities of these companies within technology-based start-ups. An exploratory and qualitative approach was adopted, and three case studies were conducted in chemistry and physics incubated companies founded between 1990 and 2009, created by senior researchers in public institutions of higher education in the State of Sao Paulo. The context related to science, technology and innovation, the evolution of the University\'s mission, as well as public policies and institutions linked to S,T&I in Brazil were analyzed. It was possible to state the importance of initiatives to stimulate university-industry relationship, the transfer/licensing of technologies and the creation of spin-off companies. A need was also pointed for structuring OTTs, incubators and technology parks, as formal institutions to promote and support entrepreneurship in academia. The literature review addressed the forms of knowledge production, as well as models for structuring academic research. In addition, this review tried to explain the concepts related to academic entrepreneurship, as well as the definitions, development models and factors that affect the process of creation and development of academic spin-offs. Therefore, by performing the multiple case studies, it was possible to conclude that there are characteristics elated to the entrepreneur and to his company that greatly influence their growth. These characteristics are mainly related to their process of creation and development, the importance of resources, corporate formation and team formation, the product development process and the articulation of the business model. In the context of the natural sciences, despite the importance of the spin-off development (to transfer of knowledge from the university to the market) and the scientific reputation of some academic researchers and research groups in Brazil, there are few cases of entrepreneurs success. These cases are important to stimulate entrepreneurial initiatives among researchers and professionals in these areas, as examples that induce the creation of a culture for generation of new business in the midst of academic origin.

O objetivo principal do trabalho foi analisar o surgimento de spin-offs acadêmicos, com foco específico naqueles que tiveram como origem as pesquisas desenvolvidas nas áreas das ciências naturais (com ênfase na física e na química), a fim de se compreender as semelhanças e as particularidades dessas empresas, tomando-as como um grupo idiossincrático dentro do conjunto de empresas nascentes de base tecnológica. Para tanto, através de uma abordagem exploratória qualitativa, foram realizados três estudos de caso em empresas nas áreas de química e física fundadas entre a década de 1990 e os dias atuais, criadas por pesquisadores graduados em instituições públicas de ensino superior do Estado de São Paulo, e que estão ou estiveram incubadas. Assim, foram realizadas análises do contexto ligado à ciência, à tecnologia e à inovação e da evolução da missão da Universidade, bem como das políticas públicas e das instituições ligadas à C,T&I no Brasil. Desse modo, foi possível elencar a importância das iniciativas de estímulo ao relacionamento Universidade-Empresa, à transferência/licenciamento de tecnologias e à criação de spin-offs, além da necessidade de estruturação dos NITs, das incubadoras e dos parques tecnológicos, enquanto instituições formais de fomento e suporte ao empreendedorismo no meio acadêmico. Para que esse contexto pudesse ser tratado em conjunto com o desenvolvimento fundamental da ciência, a revisão bibliográfica tratou das formas de produção do conhecimento, assim como dos modelos de estruturação da pesquisa acadêmica. Além disso, foi realizada uma exposição dos conceitos ligados ao empreendedorismo acadêmico, bem como das definições, modelos de desenvolvimento e fatores que impactam o processo de criação e desenvolvimento de spin-offs acadêmicos. Assim, através de estudos de múltiplos casos, foi possível concluir que existem particularidades ligadas ao empreendedor e à sua empresa, relativas ao seu processo de criação e desenvolvimento, à importância dos recursos, à constituição societária e formação da equipe, ao processo de desenvolvimento de produtos e à articulação do seu modelo de negócios, que impactam sobremaneira o seu crescimento. No contexto das ciências naturais, apesar da importância da geração de spin-offs (no processo de transferência do conhecimento da universidade ao mercado) e da notoriedade científica de pesquisadores acadêmicos e de grupos de pesquisa no Brasil, ainda são poucos os casos de empreendedores de sucesso. Esses casos são importantes no estímulo à carreira empreendedora entre os acadêmicos e profissionais dessas áreas, como exemplos que favorecerão à criação de uma cultura para geração de novas empresas de origem acadêmica nesse meio. / This thesis analyzes the emergence of academic spin-offs, with a specific focus on those derived from basic knowledge in the natural sciences (mainly Physics and Chemistry). The main interest was to understand the similarities and particularities of these companies within technology-based start-ups. An exploratory and qualitative approach was adopted, and three case studies were conducted in chemistry and physics incubated companies founded between 1990 and 2009, created by senior researchers in public institutions of higher education in the State of Sao Paulo. The context related to science, technology and innovation, the evolution of the University\'s mission, as well as public policies and institutions linked to S,T&I in Brazil were analyzed. It was possible to state the importance of initiatives to stimulate university-industry relationship, the transfer/licensing of technologies and the creation of spin-off companies. A need was also pointed for structuring OTTs, incubators and technology parks, as formal institutions to promote and support entrepreneurship in academia. The literature review addressed the forms of knowledge production, as well as models for structuring academic research. In addition, this review tried to explain the concepts related to academic entrepreneurship, as well as the definitions, development models and factors that affect the process of creation and development of academic spin-offs. Therefore, by performing the multiple case studies, it was possible to conclude that there are characteristics elated to the entrepreneur and to his company that greatly influence their growth. These characteristics are mainly related to their process of creation and development, the importance of resources, corporate formation and team formation, the product development process and the articulation of the business model. In the context of the natural sciences, despite the importance of the spin-off development (to transfer of knowledge from the university to the market) and the scientific reputation of some academic researchers and research groups in Brazil, there are few cases of entrepreneurs success. These cases are important to stimulate entrepreneurial initiatives among researchers and professionals in these areas, as examples that induce the creation of a culture for generation of new business in the midst of academic origin.

Spin offs universitárias são empreendimentos gerados a partir de ativos de conhecimento desenvolvidos em uma universidade, com o objetivo de transformar aqueles conhecimentos em produtos ou serviços a serem comercializados. É uma das formas de transferência de tecnologia da universidade para a sociedade. Por seus potenciais impactos sobre localidades, países, competitividade, cultura empreendedora, difusão das inovações, geração de empregos qualificados e renda, as spin offs universitárias são objeto de interesse de diversos atores. Quais os fatores que influenciam o sucesso de empresas spin offs brasileiras foi a pergunta que norteou esta pesquisa. A metodologia utilizada foi qualitativa, através do estudo multicasos de oito empresas spin offs de sucesso geradas a partir do conhecimento produzido em duas instituições acadêmicas de engenharia: a Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo e a COPPE da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Foram realizadas 25 entrevistas com empreendedores e atores das universidades, complementadas com a coleta e análise de dados públicos. O modelo conceitual desenvolvido é multiníveis e composto por seis camadas: o contexto nacional; o contexto regional; a universidade; a instituição acadêmica; o laboratório ou grupo de pesquisa e, por fim, as empresas spin offs. As principais conclusões do trabalho foram que todos as camadas afetam o sucesso das empresas. No contexto nacional, o marco regulatório brasileiro é favorável à geração e desenvolvimento das spin offs, apesar de apresentar dubiedades, ser recente e ainda estar incompleto. As instituições federais nacionais possuem linhas de crédito que são acessadas pelas empresas. Na análise do contexto regional foi confirmada a importância das condições de fatores regionais que influenciaram o desenvolvimento das empresas, que utilizaram para seu desenvolvimento fontes de financiamento, acessaram clientes inovadores, rede de fornecedores e investidores das suas respectivas regiões. Não se confirmou uma conclusão da literatura de que as condições regionais seriam mais importantes que as nacionais, talvez esta seja uma das particularidades do caso brasileiro. Com relação às universidades, apesar de contarem com as suas organizações de apoio, como Núcleo de Inovação Tecnológica, incubadoras e parques tecnológicos, não possuem políticas e ações claras de apoio ao empreendedorismo acadêmico e os ambientes regulatórios estão incompletos. A mesma falta de ações claras e a incompletude de regulamentação foi observada nas duas instituições acadêmicas - em uma delas as ações e políticas são mais desenvolvidos. As instituições acadêmicas possuem alto relacionamento com empresas e suas atividades de ensino e pesquisa são de excelência, as mesmas características foram observadas nos laboratórios. Com relação às empresas spin offs, 50% tiveram sua gênese espontânea e 50% planejada, as equipes empreendedoras em 37,5% dos casos eram mistas, composta por pesquisadores e profissionais experientes e 62,5% born global. Como contribuições, salienta-se a necessidade de sanar as dubiedades e complementar os ambientes regulatórios federal, regional e da universidade; criar programas de apoio ao empreendedorismo acadêmico nas instituições acadêmicas; reconhecer e cultivar seus casos de spin offs de sucesso pelos atores da universidade; fortalecer os NITs das universidade para que possam realizar adequadamente sua missão. / Academic spin offs are companies funded by entrepreneurs from a knowledge asset created in a university, in order to transform that knowledge in products and services. It is an alternative of technology transfer from the university to society. University spin-offs are object of interest of many actors because of their potential impacts on regions, countries, competitiveness, entrepreneurial culture, diffusion of innovations, generation of qualified jobs and income. \"What factors influence the success of Brazilian spin off companies?\" That was the guide question to this research. The methodology was qualitative; through a multi-case study of eight spin off successful companies. The eight cases were generated from the knowledge produced in two academic engineering institutions: the Escola Politécnica of the University of São Paulo and COPPE of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. We carried out 25 interviews with entrepreneurs and actors of the universities, complemented by the collection and analysis of public data. The conceptual model was developed from the literature review, it is multilevel and composed of six layers: the national context; the regional context; the university; the academic institution; the laboratory and the spin-off company. The main conclusions were that all factors affect the success of companies. In the national context, the Brazilian regulatory framework supports the generation and development of spin-offs, despite having ambiguities, being new and still incomplete. The national federal institutions have credit lines that are accessed by the companies. In the regional context, the analysis confirms the importance of the regional conditions that affected the development of the firms. These firms accessed credit lines, innovative customers, suppliers and investors networks of the regions. Whereas in the literature the conclusion of regional conditions were more important than national conditions, it was not confirmed in this research, perhaps this is one of the peculiarities of the Brazilian case. Regarding universities, despite both count on their support organizations such as the Technology Transfer Offices, incubators and science parks, they do not have clear policies and actions to support the academic entrepreneurship and the regulatory environments are incomplete. Similar unclear actions and regulatory incompleteness were observed in both academic institutions - in one of them actions and policies are more developed. Both have intense relationship with companies and their academic and research activities achieve high standards, the same characteristics were observed in the laboratories. Regarding the spin off companies, 50% had their spontaneous genesis, in 37.5% the entrepreneurial teams were mixed, consisting of researchers and experienced professionals and 62.5% were born global. Some contributions of the study were the need to: remove the ambiguities and complement federal, regional and university regulatory environments; create programs to support the academic entrepreneurship in academic institutions; know, recognize and cultivate spin offs success stories by the university actors; and strengthen the technology transfer offices in the universities so that they can properly carry out their missions.

<p>The 21st century would be a nightmare for Don Quijote: thousands of windmills are installed all over the globe and the number will increase tremendously over the next years. If climate change was an issue in the early 17th century, Don Quijote might have specialized in fighting nuclear or fossil fuel power plants.</p><p>The change in power production is clearly pronounced, and it inspires the market to respond immediately. Numerous wind turbine manufacturers emerge, developing one technological innovation after another. The trend clearly goes in one direction: horizontal axis wind turbines in all possible variations. However, there are a few companies that do not follow the mainstream – they swim against the current and introduce new concepts, with the potential to set new standards in the industry.</p><p>Nevertheless, the question whether these companies can establish operations and survive in an industry dominated by large multinational corporations arises. If these companies want to become recognized, they need to compete on an international scale from the outset – they become born globals.</p><p>This master’s thesis investigates the preconditions under which an innovative start-up company can become born global in the wind turbine industry. For that, distinctive resources and capabilities of such companies, as well as key success factors for the industry are defined. Furthermore, enhancing or restricting parameters lying within company’s environment – in particular, within its networks – are discovered. These findings are based on and supported by the case study of an innovative vertical axis wind turbine manufacturer. In addition, the influence of this company’s university spin-off origin is investigated.</p>

The 21st century would be a nightmare for Don Quijote: thousands of windmills are installed all over the globe and the number will increase tremendously over the next years. If climate change was an issue in the early 17th century, Don Quijote might have specialized in fighting nuclear or fossil fuel power plants. The change in power production is clearly pronounced, and it inspires the market to respond immediately. Numerous wind turbine manufacturers emerge, developing one technological innovation after another. The trend clearly goes in one direction: horizontal axis wind turbines in all possible variations. However, there are a few companies that do not follow the mainstream – they swim against the current and introduce new concepts, with the potential to set new standards in the industry. Nevertheless, the question whether these companies can establish operations and survive in an industry dominated by large multinational corporations arises. If these companies want to become recognized, they need to compete on an international scale from the outset – they become born globals. This master’s thesis investigates the preconditions under which an innovative start-up company can become born global in the wind turbine industry. For that, distinctive resources and capabilities of such companies, as well as key success factors for the industry are defined. Furthermore, enhancing or restricting parameters lying within company’s environment – in particular, within its networks – are discovered. These findings are based on and supported by the case study of an innovative vertical axis wind turbine manufacturer. In addition, the influence of this company’s university spin-off origin is investigated.

Due to an intensified climate change discourse, renewable energy technologies find higher attention within the energy system and increasingly compete with traditional energy conversion systems. Electricity is progressively being generated through renewable electricity generation technologies (REGT) which harness naturally existing energy fluxes (wind, tide, heat, sun) and convert it to electricity. High investments are currently being made into well-developed REGT using explored energy sources such as wind, hydro or solar. In order to increase cost- and energy efficiency of REGTs, university research projects are developing new REGTs that harvest underexplored energy sources such as the marine energy source. These capital-intensive marine energy research projects are entering the market through university spin-off firms but are often confronted with funding gaps, for the current or future operations. Capital rich investors could provide these funds but are often investing in well explored energy sources rather than into underexplored but more cost- and energy-efficient energy sources. Utilizing a qualitative, grounded theory-influenced approach and combining empirical material of semi-structured interviews, data from a participant observation of an innovation system workshop attendance and data from continuous meetings with an academic REGT spin-off from Uppsala University, this study investigates 1) the drivers and barriers within the funding ecosystem for academic REGT spin-offs in Sweden, 2) the limited access of high capital to underexplored energy sources on the specific case of the marine energy source and 3) a potential common ground for investors with high capital and academic REGT spin-offs in order to allow an accelerated diffusion of the marine energy source. The results indicate that the physical properties of the underexplored marine source should not be accounted for as driver but rather as the foundation of an academic REGT spin-off. This frame allows to bridge practitioners of both the investment field and the academic field of REGT spin-offs through the degree of utilization. An inversion of relations, where not only entrepreneurs increasingly link their field of study to economy and business, but also investors adapt cross-disciplinary knowledge towards academia and natural sciences via the degree of utilization, could be beneficial for an accelerated diffusion of academic REGTs. Bridging practitioners of both fields through the degree of utilization and other means might together with a full commercial application and proof of marine REGTs reduce the funding gap of academic spin-offs in the marine sector and allow access to investors with high capital.