Technology Commercialization Fund

Technology Commercialization Award Program

What is the Proof of Concept Technology Commercialization Award?

The Office of Technology Development has created the Proof of Concept Technology Commercialization Grant Award Program. The Technology Commercialization Fund provides funding of up to $50,000 to enable Penn State Hershey investigators to further develop a commercializable invention based upon Penn State Hershey intellectual property.

How does a technology meet the funding criteria?

  •  An invention disclosure must have been previously submitted to the Office of Technology Development and Penn State University must own, and have clear rights to commercialize, the intellectual property.
  • The intellectual property and prospective technology or service must address a need in the marketplace and have a competitive advantage over existing technologies.
  • The proposed work is directed to commercial-type technology development or testing. It is not for the creation of new inventions or basic research. It is to obtain a proof of concept that an invention meets a market need.

Preference will be given to projects that can be completed within twelve months or to projects that have matching funds from an outside company. For example, a company will provide funding to Penn State, matched by the Technology Commercialization Award Program in exchange for an option to the technology.

Proposal Format:

Upon invitation from the Office of Technology Development, funding proposals should include the following information.

  • Cover sheet which includes title of project, name of principal investigator(s), name of project participants, and Penn State Technology ID Number.
  • Describe the current status of the invention and the funding history of the research. (150 word maximum)
  • Describe the proposed technology that would be commercialized and the problem it solves. Discuss existing solutions available in the marketplace and the advantages of the proposed technology, identify the customers of the proposed technology and if possible, estimate the market size. Describe the strategy for approaching the market, e.g. licensing to an existing company or starting a new company. (300 word maximum)
  • Provide a detailed description of the proposed project, the timeline and expected outcomes. Describe what additional steps will be needed for commercialization at the conclusion of the project. (300 word maximum)
  • Include a budget

Completed proposals should be emailed as an attachment to technologydevelopment@hmc.psu.edu

Proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis.  If you have questions about the status of your proposal please contact the Office of Technology Development at 717-531-8496.