How Innovation Becomes Commercialization Greg Main is president of i2E, which is a driving force behind the emergence of Oklahoma's entrepreneurial culture. Oklahoma universities gained permission to own stock in newly commercialized enterprises when lawmakers passed a state constitutional amendment to that effect in 1998. The intention was for Oklahoma and its universities to capture more of the value of those enterprises by keeping them in the state and creating jobs for Oklahomans rather than elsewhere. Problem was, university managers found themselves in uncharted territory, and commercialization activity that was under way at the time was modest.       In 1998, business leaders in the State founded i2E (shorthand for turning innovation into enterprise), a private, non-profit company dedicated to helping the universities commercialize new businesses and structure ownership arrangements that would keep the startups in Oklahoma. Just as importantly, i2E (www.i2E.org) works to support research specialties at the institutions — high-tech sensor technology at Oklahoma State University, plant genomics at the Noble Foundation and weather technology at the University of Oklahoma, to name some examples. Greg Main, a venture capitalist familiar with the five research institutions in the state and their commercialization efforts, is president of i2E.       "We are starting to see a number of companies spin out of the universities and begin to develop," says Main. "Some of them are getting traction, and our job is to help them position themselves to be able to access the venture capital funding necessary to go forward." The company provides a variety of resources to startups, including networking events, new-business consulting services and access to capital. A Model for Other States "i2E is a very successful endeavor," says Joseph Ferretti, Ph.D., senior vice president and provost of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. "People from other states have come in and copied what they have done and asked for advice. We use them." A young scientist may not have access to the necessary infrastructure nor the business-plan advice he or she needs in order to succeed, Ferretti explains. "If you're going to build a company to make something new, you have to have a business plan about how you're going to compete and where the financing will come from and so forth. An institution our size doesn't always have that. But if there's a statewide institution working with each of the different institutions in the state, then that's very helpful, and that's what i2e is all about."       Sensor development, weather development, drug development, genomics — particularly in the area of targeted therapies, all are seeing heightened activity on the part of in-state researchers and newly minted companies linked to the universities. "This activity is still nascent," says Main, "but at any one time now, we have five, six or seven new startup companies we're working with."       In May, i2E awarded $750,000 to six Oklahoma advanced technology startups with OCAST (Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology) TBFP (Technology Business Finance Program) funds. TBFP is one of several initiatives launched once OCAST was formed to stimulate the state's entrepreneurial climate.       Independent analysis of the state's business-attraction potential, funded by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, has identified a region from Stillwater (where Oklahoma State is located) to Ardmore as being particularly strong in life sciences and bio sciences. "There's a fair amount of sophisticated work being done in that area," says Main. "But we are also seeing a lot activity in the software, networking and information technology sector, which is significant from our business's standpoint, especially after a few years of that sector being in the doldrums."       Telecommunications was particularly hard hit, leaving a wealth of engineering and other talent available to work on new ventures.       Prior to the tech slump of recent years, the state did well attracting angel investment and launching enterprises; as many as a dozen angel investors were doing business in the state. "Then the venture capital business dried up and not much was getting funded at all," says Main. "That was the period when we started merging, because we had started these companies in 2000 and 2001, and we raised about $50 million a year for two or three years there from the early-stage startups that got funded. People were astounded, because no one was getting anything done across the country, but here in Oklahoma, we were getting some deals done. That showed that we know how to do this. If we can get the early-stage capital in, then we can produce the kinds of deals that are attractive to outside venture capitalists."