How Research Can Generate Business Opportunities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

mouakter13 · Post by **mouakter13** » Thu Feb 13, 2025 3:31 am

At large institutions such as the University of Michigan, where our organization, the William Davidson Institute (WDI) is affiliated, there are many resources to support the commercialization of research. Examples include technology transfer offices to provide intellectual property expertise, mentors-in-residence to provide sector and business expertise, law school clinics to provide legal support to entrepreneurial ventures led by students and others, pitch competitions to provide training and visibility, grants and prizes to provide startup funding, lab space for prototyping, and more. Such resources are invaluable for pre- and early stage italy whatsapp number data commercialization efforts, and many of them are available at no or low cost to researchers – often including both faculty and students.

Successful commercialization also benefits universities, in the form of revenue from licensing agreements, visibility, talent attraction and more. So it’s no surprise that the number of patents and startups spun out of universities and research institutions (including U-M) has increased. But there are limitations. In our experience at a U.S.-based institution, there is a gap in expertise and resources related to low- and middle-income country (LMIC) markets – and that is a role we aim to fill at WDI, as part of our work solving for business in LMICs.

One of the ways we do this is by supporting the commercialization of a small-scale biomass gasification technology that converts agricultural waste into electricity and biochar (a carbon-rich soil amendment). This circular solution, developed by U-M professor Jose Alfaro, can bring economic, environmental and social benefits to small farmers and others in the agricultural value chain in LMICs. It can also be connected to a mini-grid, which can reduce costs and help improve the reliability and resilience of the local electricity supply. Alfaro discusses the technology in the video below: