Commercialising Academia; an

empirical perspective
Hugh Thomas
September 2023
Introduction
Hugh Thomas has a breadth of experience … Currently:
• President Director & CEO -
Suvo Strategic Minerals
Limited
• MD/CEO • Seed capital • Chief Commissioner –
• Profitability Industry Venture • Company Start-ups
• Strategy Leadership Capital • Commercialization International Base Metals
Limited
• Commissioner – NT
Minerals Limited
Previously
• Financing Infrastructure Private • Development capital • Managing Director, Global
• Structuring Development Equity • Turnarounds Head of Investment
• Strategy/Optionality • Strategy
Banking Research & Head
of Natural Resources Asia
Pacific - JP Morgan
• Director Asia Summit
• Policy Advice • M&A Capital LLC (based in
• Financing Government Investment Jakarta)
• Debt & Equity
• Privatisations Advisor Banking • Corporate Advice
• Partner & Global Head of
Mining – Deloitte Corporate
Finance
however ..…..
Empathy
I understand the academic perspective and the restrictions that can bare. • I grew up in an academic
household as the son of a
Professor

Professor Leon Thomas • Professor LJ Thomas –

Mining & Metallurgy,
University of New South
Wales, Australia
• PhD in ‘Rock Mechanics’
Academic Commercialisation – why so relevant?
• university research has
Over the past 40-50 years, basic research produced pathbreaking
at corporate R&D labs has seen a steep innovations across many
decline, while academic research at disciplines, many of which
have been commercialised
universities has grown. “We’re no longer successfully
in the age of basic research from • US universities only capture
AT&T/Bell Labs, GE Labs, Kodak and 16% of the value they help
DuPont – all that is business history.” create through licensing
revenues or equity stakes in
the start-ups [1]
“On the other hand, the modern U.S.
• Inventions that are coming
research university tends to be out of universities are much
increasingly interested in translating more important relative to
academic research into something that corporate patents; yet the
universities are taking out
makes a social impact, with associated
much less in terms of value
economic development considerations.
• ITS let me ask “You have
That’s a big shift.” many missions, including
education, research and
Wharton Management Professor David H. dissemination of research,
but on the pillar of value
Hsu creation and value capture
how do you fare?”
[1]
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania - “Benchmarking U.S. University Patent Value and Commercialisation Efforts: A New Approach”
University Commercialisation Approaches
Simplistically there are three approaches: • Cambridge University is,
via the Cambridge Cluster,
arguably the best model in
Reputation,
Financial the world
Capacity,
Vision & 1. Full inhouse
• Cambridge University
• Approach 2, has variable
outcomes dependent upon
discipline commercialisation
• MIT quality of employees.
and/or collaboration • Stanford University
models History shows:
• Universities rarely
prepared to defend
2. Technology Transfer
Offices (TTO’s) and/or
their IP
liaison, • Rare a TTO has made
commercialisation more money than it
staff has cost, often patents
inhibit innovation

3. No University
support, relies on
• Very few universities allow
their academics unfettered
individual academics
commercial freedom and
network and industry
engagement impose restrictive work
practices
Propensity
for success
It’s worth spending 2 minutes on the Cambridge Cluster
• Began in 1960 with the
More than 1,000 IP licensing, consultancy and equity contracts are currently foundation of Cambridge
under management by Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s Consultants, formed to “put
commercialisation group. the brains of Cambridge
University at the disposal of
industry”.
• Cambridge Science Park
established by Trinity
College in 1970
• The university is a major
employer, technology
provider, and a source of
knowledge and skills
• University people and ideas
are the heart of many of the
companies, whether the
company is based on
research (spin-out), or
founded by a member of the
University (start-up).
• University also provides
solutions to business
problems through
consultancy and through the
licensing of discoveries to
new and existing companies
Differing mindsets; academia viz. the commercial world
• Understanding the
divergent interests and
mindsets of academics and
those who commercialise
• Acknowledging the
differences and creating the
paradigms to allow the
bridging of the differences
and divide
• Assuring a sense of
relevance and belonging for
RSS all Parties to feel engaged
R2 = 1 -
TSS • Simplistically academia has
a theoretical bias and
industry
(commercialisation) has an
applied bias
To what extent
are we
correlated?
Divergent goals
By definition Academic Research and Commercialisation have different • Understanding the cultural
objectives. divide is a prerequisite to
success
• The reality is the system in
• aims to generate new knowledge that improves social and scientific most cases is demand
development driven not supply driven
• focuses on scientific discoveries, conducting studies into various aspects of • Unfortunately, universities
life, with the eventual aim of developing a more in-depth knowledge of do not educate their
the subject teaching staff and
• Intellectual freedom to seek perfection with high levels of autonomy researchers on ‘Academic
Engagement’
• Conversely finance
by contrast … professionals are:
• notoriously impatient
• We are simple ‘folk’ in essence we ask 2 questions: (often because they
i. Can I sell it? have choices)
• often plain lazy and
ii. if yes; can I sell it profitably?
want to be “spoon
fed”
 Finding the common ground
The tradition framework for all parties to understand a commercialisation • Respective stages of
process can best be presented schematically Academic Readiness do
align with Commercial
readiness
Academic Readiness (AR)
• There are always challenges
AR 1 AR 2 AR 3 AR 4 AR 5 AR 6 AR 7 AR 8 AR 9
in each processes (AR and
Basic Formulation Proof of Validation in Validation in Pilot scale Full scale System Actual system
principles on concept concept lab relevant validated in demo in complete and operational
CR) respective timeframes
observed application environment environment relevant relevant qualified (test full range of
environment environment and demo) conditions
• CR1 is generally low cost
‘desk top’ work so the
CR 1 CR 2 commercialising entity can
Hypothetical commercial proposition Commercial trial, small scale be patient
Commercial • Universities with talented
Readiness (CR) TTO’s have the best chance
of mediating if tensions
arise but remember THE
GOLDEN RULE OF
FINANCE
CR 3 CR 4 CR 5 CR 6
Commercial Multiple Widespread Bankable
scale up commercial development asset class
applications and market
competition
A current example
Suvo Strategic Minerals Limited, an Australian listed public company, is • Murdoch’s Department of
working with Murdoch University based in Western Australia on Geopolymer Environmental
Engineering- School of
Cement and its commercialisation Engineering and Energy,
College of Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics wants to
make the perfect
Geopolymer binders
• Suvo want to commercialise
geopolymer cement as it
Murdoch Suvo sees an opportunity to
increase the value of Suvo
and therefore create
shareholder wealth
• However the perfect
geopolymer binder may not
actually be as commercially
viable and lucrative as a
non perfect, but highly
abundant, binders
The Commercial Mindset
For the sake of this discussion, I have excluded commercialisation on • Simplistically it is all about
philanthropic grounds, therefore the single focus of the commercialisation is a “the money”
financial return over an acceptable timeframe. • There is a rigorous process
that those in
commercialisation do go
through
• Depending on the
complexity of the
opportunity, this can be
relative quick, 3-6 month, or
an elongated process over
many years
Commercialisation framework for evaluation
There are hundreds of diagrams and schematics that can be accessed easily The ‘market’ part of the
commercialisation process will
include examination of:
• Production
• Distribution
• Marketing
• Sales
• Customer support
The ‘financial’ part of the
commercialisation process will
include:
• Capital structures,
WACC
• DCF
• NPV
• IRR

HOWEVER …..
The Quantitative versus the Qualitative
My personal perspective is it is never about the quantitative analysis, that either • The market research “is
works or it doesn’t; the real issue is “are people involved ‘bankable’?” what it is”
• The financial analysis, ‘the
numbers’ either work or do
not
• So it all becomes about ‘the
people’
• Managing the human risk
becomes incredibly
important

So how do we
manage risk?
Human and behavioural factors
Much of the human risk is dependent on the commercialisation process • If the commercialisation is
‘one off’ the issues are
considerably lesser
• How do you judge the
human element?
• How do you ensure the
commitment?
• Delivering
a product Post due diligence there
is no ongoing
• ‘one off’ relationship
experience

• Delivering a Collaborative
relationship development; need for
an ongoing relationship
• ‘on-going’ potentially over multiple
relationship years
Human & behavioural factors – now add the Academic issues
The risk with Academia is considerably high than with nonacademic partners; • Academics have the
there are three levels of risk requirement of balancing
their university
responsibilities with those
commercialisation their
efforts
The • Very few Universities allow
academics commercial
Archit freedom and use of
ect sabbatical leave for
commercialisation projects
• Each layer has its own risks
The Team • The least controllable from
a financier's view is ‘the
university’
• Suvo has a live example as
we speak

The University
Assuring a sense of relevance – ‘academic engagement’
Academic engagement can be defined as knowledge-related collaboration by • Those involved in
commercialisation must
academic researchers with non-academic organizations. From the previous slide understand and reflect upon
it would be easy to malign the academic approach, but the reality is ….. the unusual circumstances
academics often find
“it is essential that firms be well-equipped to effectively participate in themselves in – arguable
collaboration (Perkmann and Salter, 2012). If policy aims to successfully dual masters
increase the impact of academic research through fostering engagement,
not only academics but firms too need to be skilled in initiating and • it is important to recognise
maintaining such collaborations, crucially recognising that collaborating that different transfer or
with academia presents distinct challenges, separate to those of customers collaboration mechanisms
or suppliers. Particularly when collaborating with the best academic may require different
researchers, firms need to take into account that these academics will support structures and
under most circumstances only work with them if there is also some incentive mechanisms
academic benefit to be derived.” • individual discretion seems
the main determinant of
academic engagement with
industry, commercialisation
measures should therefore
address individuals, in
addition to influencing
university practices and
structures
• it is essential that firms be
well-equipped to effectively
participate in collaboration
So, in summary what do I look for?

Q&A
• Drawing on the right minds
• Garnering ideas from all ranks and positions
• Evidence of encouraging and enabling collaboration
• Openness to diverse perspectives
• The ability to articulate process and bring it to fruition carefully
• The ability to map the phases of any creativity
• A respect for and the ability to accept the commercialization ‘handoff’
• Academia’s the ability to assist with the paths through the bureaucracy
• a filtering mechanism; I may have to pull the weeds from the garden not just water and
fertilise it!
• Fan the flames of motivation which is not necessarily financial
• Provide intellectual challenge
Hugh Thomas
• Allow people to pursue their passions CEO & MD
• Be an appreciative audience Suvo Strategic Minerals
Limited
• Embrace the certainty of failure along the way
Phone/WhatsApp/WeChat
+61 467 888 013