Summit Venture Studio (SVS) is a hybrid fund/accelerator that has emerged from the University of Utah's Technology Licensing Office with a $9 million fund, closed in 2022, and 80 partnerships with universities in Utah and across the US.
June 28, 2024, Salt Lake City, Utah
Summit Venture Studio (SVS) is a hybrid fund/accelerator/startup that originated from the University of Utah's Technology Licensing Office. SVS now works with over 80 universities across the country starting and investing in new software companies based on University developed intellectual property.
See our October 2020 TechBuzz article about the PIVOT center, the previous name of the Technology Licensing Office. In 2023, the office appointed new leadership and rebranded with its new name—Technology Licensing Office.
SVS provides startups with a range of services, but importantly, with capital, typically between $200,000 and $400,000. It provides the startups within its portfolio with experienced talent to develop, launch and scale their startup ideas with go-to-market strategies based on proven principles.
SVS launched in January of 2020 with the blessing of the Technology Licensing Office along with the first investment into the fund. For nearly a decade Taylor Bench and Spencer Walker (Managing Directors of SVS) worked together at the Technology Licensing Office managing the New Ventures team and the Software Development Center. In December 2022, SVS raised a $9 Million fund. The thesis of the hybrid investment firm is that universities will want to collaborate with them to commercialize software that has been developed at universities by university faculty and staff (not students).
Their assumption has been correct. Since the end of 2022, 80 universities have partnered with SVS to commercialize their university-developed software based on research of professors.
By recruiting local co-founders and employing well-established and proven entrepreneurial concepts such as the Big Idea Canvas, Y-Combinator techniques, and other lean techniques, SVS liberates innovations that have been developed by university faculty and help them gain traction in the market.
SVS collaborates with technology transfer offices of all of the Utah universities and universities outside of Utah as well. Currently, it is working with 80 universities. SVS receives hundreds of potential projects each month. In May of 2024 alone, it received nearly 500 new project ideas from Johns Hopkins University, one of its university partners.
Over the past two years SVS has launched 14 companies, nine of which are based on software IP from Utah universities.
Three SVS portfolio companies that have connections to Utah include:
FYTT.io is a sports strength and conditioning software company that originated at the University of Utah from work done by Dr. Ernie Rimer. FYTT technology is used by pro sports teams such as the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants, and several universities, including and universities: University of Utah, Utah State University, Santa Clara University, The Ohio State University, and more.
BYU MBA grad, Landon Bench, serves as FYTT's president.
SVS is helping FYTT generate revenue and expand its customer base; it is now targeting high school sports and private gyms, in addition to pro and collegiate sports.
ViewPoint is an ed tech platform providing interactive, live simulations for students. Originating from Dr. Elisabeth Gerber, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, ViewPoint is headed by Fiona Hayes, a University of Utah grad and former UofU professor. ViewPoint is used in 24 universities across the country and has been used by 11,000 learners since it was created.
EduFresh is an online platform that enhances student engagement and reduces K12 teacher burnout through innovative learning tools and resources. Based on research from University of Utah professor of Educational Psychology, Dr. Aaron Fischer, EduFresh helps teachers and after-school staff understand challenging behavior and how to best support the students in their classroom. BYU grad, Parker Smith, serves as EduFresh's president.
Several Utah schools, along with others nationally, have licensed the EduFresh software and are expanding their implementations. SVS is collaborating with EduFresh to increase its adoption by educational institutions through state programs.
SVS provides its portfolio companies with a support network that includes sales, marketing, development, accounting, and legal services to help the co-founders of its portfolio companies execute and gain traction in the market.
SVS also attracts national investor capital and facilitates corporate partnerships.
SVS' future plans include launching an additional eight portfolio companies within the next few months and recruits local industry experts to co-found these companies. Because of the unexpected amount of incredible innovation coming from their university partners SVS plans to raise a second fund soon.
It also plans to hold events such as simulations using the ViewPoint software to foster community involvement on important and relevant topics as well as the weekly education and networking meeting called The Midday Connect (www.themiddayconnect.com). It will also continue its search for presidents, advisors, and board members for all of its portfolio companies.
Most of all, SVS will focus its efforts on generating initial revenue and guiding its portfolio companies towards acquisition or future funding rounds.
For more information about SVS, visit the SVS website.