History of NovaUCD
NovaUCD, which officially opened in October 2003 as UCD's Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre is located in a magnificent mid-18th century house formerly known as Merville House.
The concept for the innovation and technology transfer centre was to restore the original house as the centrepiece of a complex of subsidiary buildings that surround it. The buildings are bright, airy and open with high-quality shared and circulation spaces that encourage the formal and informal interactions necessary for the development of a community of entrepreneurs.
The conversion to a modern innovation and technology transfer centre was funded by a unique public-private partnership. Six private sector sponsors - AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, and Xilinx contributed 75% of the €10 million raised to develop the first two phases (3,750m2) of the complex.
These sponsors were chosen to bring an appropriate mix of expertise and experience to the support programmes offered by NovaUCD. The balance of funds for the first two phases was contributed by Enterprise Ireland and UCD. Additional bioincubation facilities and equipment to accommodate biotechnology start-up companies was also funded (€1.3 million) by Enterprise Ireland and UCD.
NovaUCD and its predecessor, the University Industry Programme have over 20 years experience of supporting innovation and technology transfer at UCD. During this time NovaUCD has supported a number of commercial ventures involving the licensing of UCD technology to established and new companies.
NovaUCD related campus companies have now created well over 1000 high-quality jobs and examples of established UCD spin-out companies includes BiancaMed, Celtic Catalysts, ChangingWorlds, NTERA and WBT Systems.
The total investment and realisation in UCD spin-out companies, over the past decade, is now more than $200 million.
Another notable success includes the development and licensing of a BSE test, which to date has generated over €2 million in royalty income for UCD.
