TechAccel Collaborates with Research Powerhouse UC Davis to Foster Commercial Translation of Animal, Ag and Food Science Technologies

TechAccel Invests up to $400,000 to Expand UC Davis STAIR™ Grant Program for Campus Entrepreneurs

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Apr 07, 2016, 01:20 ET

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology Acceleration Partners (TechAccel, LLC), a private capital development company that invests in, acquires and accelerates early-stage discoveries and technologies, has entered into a collaboration with the University of California, Davis, a world leader for agriculture research. The collaboration has the potential to make a lasting societal impact in the areas of animal health, agriculture, food and nutrition.

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Through the partnership, TechAccel has agreed to invest up to $400,000 in the UC Davis STAIR-Plus™ Program, which is an expansion of the University's successful Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) Grant program.

Sponsored by Venture Catalyst in the UC Davis Office of Research, the STAIR Grant program provides funding to UC Davis researchers for translational science and innovative research. The objective of the program is to enable researchers with Intellectual Property supported innovative research to demonstrate early proof-of-concept and commercial feasibility for technologies being developed with the intent of commercial translation.

"We are excited by this collaboration, which offers significant potential to enhance the support we are already providing through our Venture Catalyst STAIR Grant program, to our innovative researchers in ag-tech, food science and animal health," said Dushyant Pathak, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Executive Director, Venture Catalyst at UC Davis. "TechAccel has taken a unique approach to driving tangible outcomes from university research for greater societal benefit, and we are proud to be a partner in this important translational alliance."

The STAIR-Plus program provides opportunities for additional funding for projects that have successfully progressed through the STAIR Grant program, and will enable promising technologies to be eligible for future TechAccel Emerging Company investments. Technologies eligible for consideration are limited to animal, agriculture and food sciences.

Under the collaboration between TechAccel and UC Davis, TechAccel has agreed to initially fund up to four projects at up to $100,000 each. Successful STAIR-Plus program graduates will also be eligible for the TechAccel Emerging Company investments which can exceed $1 million.

"Collaboration with best-in-class ag, animal health and food science research universities is of critical importance to TechAccel's model for advancing transformative innovation," said TechAccel founder and CEO Michael Helmstetter. "UC Davis is at the top of that list, providing cutting edge intellectual property, subject matter expertise and the highest research capabilities."

TechAccel partners with global companies, venture capital firms and emerging start-ups to identify market needs and provide the research and development to address those needs. TechAccel co-funds the R&D costs and sources/manages the advancement of each technology, which in turn, helps companies accelerate bringing potentially transformative technologies to the global market.

To date, TechAccel has partnered with 15 leading agriculture and animal health universities nationally and internationally, which are best-in-class sources for research, subject matter expertise and novel intellectual property.

In 2015, TechAccel won the 2015 Excellence in TBED (technology-based economic development) Award as America's Most Promising Technology Based Economic Development Initiative from the State Science and Technology Institute, or SSTI, a national organization focused on enhancing state-level technology based economic development for the national good.

About Technology Acceleration Partners: Founded in 2014 by Michael Helmstetter, Ph.D., Kansas State University, and Bicknell Family Holding Company, TechAccel is a first-of-its-kind private capital development company that invests in, acquires and accelerates early-stage discoveries and technologies in agriculture, animal health and food ingredient sectors. Through collaborations with universities and research organizations, TechAccel conducts innovative research and development to ready technologies for commercialization by TechAccel's global industry partners. For more information, visit www.techaccel.net.