The famous American financier Charles Whitehead visited Kharkiv Polytechnic. In the bomb shelter of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, he gave a lecture «World experience in commercialization of scientific and technological developments». Among the listeners of the interesting report of the financial markets specialist were NTU «KhPI» scientists, as well as representatives of scientific and financial institutions, higher education institutions, etc. who joined online. Charles Whitehead, founder of eō Business Incubators and investment manager of Tech Investment Fund «Phoenix, shared his many years of experience in commercializing scientific developments, particularly in the United States and Ukraine.
In his speech, Charles Whitehead focused on the main problems that arise when translating scientific achievements into commercial products. He highlighted the importance of creating a favorable environment for innovation at universities, in particular at NTU «KhPI».
The well-known American financier spoke about the features of the development of innovative startups based on American universities, where their own business incubators and venture capital financing play a significant role. The point was to create optimal conditions for entrepreneurs and scientists in these higher education institutions so that they could not only research but also successfully commercialize their developments. Charles Whitehead gave examples of the successful implementation of startups in eō Business Incubators, which opened in 2019 on the basis of NTU «KhPI». He noted the high percentage of successful projects by students and researchers of Kharkiv Polytechnic who were able to enter the market and attract investments.
The international expert also compared approaches to commercialization in Ukraine and the United States. Charles Whitehead noted that Ukraine still lacks sufficient support at the institutional level for the effective transformation of scientific ideas into commercial products, although there have been positive developments in recent years. The well-known expert called on Ukrainian universities to integrate their scientific developments more actively into market mechanisms and create conditions for the development of startups, which will attract investors and promote the development of the country’s innovation potential.
«The development of startups and innovations at universities is not only about science, but also about comprehensive support and investment. Integration of Ukrainian universities into the global system of commercialization of scientific developments has a huge potential, and I believe that such events help Ukrainian scientists realize their role in the global innovation ecosystem,» said Charles Whitehead.
The lecture was held as part of the Program for the commercialization of scientific and technical developments of Ukrainian universities, which eō Business Incubators, together with eō Business Teaching Inc. conducts with the participation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ukraine-Moldova American Fund. The event, which has become an important event for everyone interested in innovation and entrepreneurship in the university environment, was organized by the startup center «SPARK» and the Scientific and Research Department of NTU «KhPI».
We should remind that this is not the first lecture by Charles Whitehead on the commercialization of scientific and technical developments organized by NTU «KhPI».
Note:
Charles K. Whitehead is an American banker, a specialist in financial markets, business transactions, financial investment instruments, and capitalization of non-material assets. Areas of interest: capitalization of intellectual property objects, creation of an innovative infrastructure in Ukraine that involves the scientific potential of Ukraine in the international environment of commercialization of scientific developments, creation of a venture fund. Currently, Charles Whitehead is a co-director of Cornell Tech (New York), a professor at Cornell Tech, Cornell University, New York, and Cornell Law School, Business Law. Some business positions: member of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Managing Director at Nomura Securities International, Inc. (New York), member of the Board of Directors at Salomon Brothers, Chairman of the Banking Committee (CitiBank, CitiGroup)