UCLA receives $2.2M to fund innovation, entrepreneurship
By David Yaghutiel
Jan. 18, 2017 10:57 p.m.
The state of California allocated $2.2 million to fund innovation and entrepreneurship at UCLA.
The funding came from a $22 million state investment in the University of California under Assembly Bill 2664, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Expansion. Funding from the bill was divided equally among the 10 UC campuses.
The funding is meant to help the university accelerate research and new inventions that will benefit society, said Ann Karagozian, UCLA’s interim vice chancellor for research, in a statement.
[Related: Gov. Brown approves $22 million to fund entrepreneurship at UCs]
A portion of the state funds will go to the UCLA Technology Development Group, a group that promotes UCLA innovation and research, said Amir Naiberg, the TDG associate vice chancellor, CEO and president. The group will use funds to support education and outreach programs, staffing and startup programs and its own entrepreneurs-in-residence program.
“(The funding) will allow us to have an even more meaningful impact in our ecosystem and bring more UCLA innovation to the marketplace,” Naiberg said.
UCLA has been one of the nation’s leading universities in the field of technology transfer. The TDG has launched 21 startup companies, disclosed 412 inventions and licensed 114 inventions to companies within the last fiscal year.
