The University of Minnesota said Wednesday that it launched a record number of start-ups in fiscal 2012.
 
Discoveries by university researchers fueled 12 start-up companies in the 2012 fiscal year, which ended June 30. The previous record was set last year, when nine companies were launched.
 
“This record number of start-ups shows that the overhaul of our technology commercialization function that was initiated five years ago is clearly paying off,” U of M President Eric Kaler said in a statement. “The diverse range of disciplines represented in these 12 start-up companies demonstrates what a valuable resource the University of Minnesota is to businesses in this state and beyond.”
 
Since 2006, the university has launched 38 start-ups—30 of which are still active. According to the U of M, that ratio demonstrates “a strong track record that validates the rigorous stage-gate process used by the Office for Technology Commercialization to determine which technologies have the potential to generate viable companies.”
 
The companies that the university launched in fiscal 2012, along with a brief description of the technology each one is commercializing, are:
 
• Argilex Technologies: Membrane technology for separation processes such as those in the petroleum refining, chemicals, and biofuels industries
• Ariel Pharmaceuticals: Treatment for prevention of death due to blood loss from trauma
• CIPAC: Treatment using live bacterial preparation that could stop infection caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile
• CycleWood Solutions: Low-cost biodegradable and compostable bags
• Drive Power: Web- and smartphone-based products that leverage emerging measurement technologies and predictive analytics to enable people to make more informed driving decisions
• Early Learning Labs: Assessments and services to help parents and early child-care providers develop “kindergarten-ready” children
• Epitopoietic Research Corporation: Vaccine that engages the immune system to treat brain tumors
• Heat Mining Company: Process uses sequestered carbon dioxide to extract geothermal energy from the earth in order to generate electricity
• Omicron Health Systems: Technology that helps clinicians monitor patient progress and improve the process of performing clinical research
• Smart Signal Technologies: Hardware and software solution that can be used to reduce traffic congestion on major signalized arterial highways
• VitalSims: Simulated practice setting that enables the observation, analysis, and improvement of physician decision-making
• Vytacera Pharma: Antidote for the prevention and treatment of cyanide poisoning