TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

There is a new driver in place for Minneapolis-based startup Drive Power. Will England, the company’s former CEO and seed investor, is stepping aside and handing the wheel over to Augeo, one of the venture’s founding shareholders.

Drive Power was spun-out of the University of Minnesota’s Office for Technology and Commercialization in January of 2012 with intellectual property invented inside the University of Minnesota’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute.

The firm subsequently raised over $1 million in investment capital, including an 815k angel round in May 2012. Drive Power’s flagship product, DriveScribe, enjoyed national attention and press over the past year for its software platform that monitors, coaches, and encourages safe driving habits, with a focus on teenage drivers.

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By Thomas Lee, Star Tribune

“If Tim Mulcahy seems noticeably relaxed these days, that’s probably because he is. Like any soon-to-be retiree, Mulcahy, 61, is looking forward to a life of travel, photography and writing after he steps down as University of Minnesota’s vice president of research in December.

But more important, Mulcahy walks away from the job confident the university has pumped a steady flow of jobs and innovation into Minnesota’s economy. Once an intractable sinkhole for intellectual property, the university has emerged as a credible place to launch startups and develop new technologies.”

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The Office for Technology Commercialization (OTC) is responsible for packaging R&D developed inside University of Minnesota and pushing it into the commercial market with the intent of realizing a financial and social return on investment.

From start to finish, the group is responsible for patenting and licensing intellectual property, early development of start-up companies, providing supportive resources for researchers, and matching internal inventors with external entrepreneurs.

While discoveries by University of Minnesota researchers were used in the launch of an overall record 12 companies in fiscal year 2012, five of those 12 are found in the IT & software technology genre:

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Via News Release

“MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (07/10/2012) —Clinical Decision Support technology developed by University of Minnesota researchers will enable healthcare providers to improve preventative care, communication and coordination among clinicians, researchers, and patients.

Minneapolis-based startup Omicron Health Systems, Inc. will incorporate the technology in its Population Health Management offering to research networks and healthcare organizations.”

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The University of Minnesota Office for Technology Commercialization has successfully completed another licensing deal with the launch of Early Learning Labs, which is introducing myIGDIs.

“Now that we’ve finalized our agreement, we’re excited to continue building on the innovative work that originated at the U of M and immediately start offering services to users,” said Early Learning Labs president Steve Johnson, who “developed an interest in early stage growth companies while a student at the University.”

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