International business school INSEAD is launching a study of the university spin-out companies in the ACES awards programme, INSEAD Dean J. Frank Brown announced here Feb. 3. The aim, he said, is to “see what we can learn about high-growth science-based entrepreneurship in Europe.”
The ACES, or Academic Enterprise Awards, is a three-year-old programme to identify and reward spin-out entrepreneurs across Europe. So far, 45 companies have made it through to the finals since 2008. They span all technology sectors, from computer to energy to life sciences.
The research, which has just started, is being carried out by INSEAD’s Maag International Centre for Entrepreneurship, and is headed by Filipe Santos, associate professor of entrepreneurship at INSEAD, in collaboration with Philippe Silberzahn, associate professor of entrepreneurship from EM Lyon Business School. Santos said the researchers aim to report first results in time for next year’s ACES event.
As the only pan-European awards for innovation that builds on university research, the ACES programme singles out a unique group of promising technology businesses. A selection committee of experts screens the finalists – ensuring that they are based on sound technology. Then the winners – one in each of five categories – are picked by another group, the Science|Business Innovation Board, a non-profit association in Brussels, whose members include ESADE Dean Alfons Sauquet, Imperial College London Rector Sir Keith O’Nions, Microsoft International President Jean-Philippe Courtois, BP Group Head of Research and Technology David Eyton, and Dean Brown of INSEAD.
The INSEAD/EMLYON ACES study on Science Entrepreneurship will follow the development of the spin-outs to see how well, or badly, they do in coming years. The study will look for any common problems they may face in the growth process, such as market expansion, team building, financing, CEO succession and other challenges facing technology start-ups. It will also look for common success factors that can provide insights on how to build successful global technology start-ups.
“The results will feed into policy suggestions on how we can encourage high-growth entrepreneurship in Europe,” said Richard L. Hudson, CEO of Science|Business.
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