Abstract
Student entrepreneurship is an important but not well-studied field of research. Student venturing activity is characterized by the lack of experience and expertise among founders, which is a critical barrier in technology-based venturing. Through an in-depth qualitative study of a student venture incubation initiative, the present paper finds that to support student ventures in overcoming this barrier, the recruitment of skilled students with sufficient technical knowledge is the most essential. Several different actors are involved in the process, and the support for student ventures tends to be informal and need-driven rather than structured, formal, and university-prescribed. The multiple actors, both internal and external to the university, are complementary for student venture incubation. This perspective indicates the need for university managers and policy makers to support several multiple actors. Value creation from student entrepreneurship could further be boosted by improved team recruitment activities such as matchmaking events and other networking activities at the university.
Highlights
It is widely acknowledged that ‘science advances and new technology are transformative engines for profound economic change in society’ [1], and technology transfer describes the process of moving ideas from a labo ratory into the marketplace [2]
The present in-depth longitudinal case study of a student venture incubation initiative at a major Scandinavian university integrated several perspectives in order to address university incubation activities that enable students to contribute to university entrepreneurship through technology-based student ventures
The findings of the present paper support previous studies regarding the participation of multiple actors in student venture incubation, which is in harmony with the student venturing ecosystem framework by Wright et al [11]
Summary
It is widely acknowledged that ‘science advances and new technology are transformative engines for profound economic change in society’ [1], and technology transfer describes the process of moving ideas from a labo ratory into the marketplace [2]. Technical universities are seeking to improve their technology transfer mechanisms for promoting entrepre neurial activity and venture creation. Mechanisms applied by univer sities include incubators [4], technology parks [5] as well as providing office space and mentoring to promote development of new ventures based on university technology. Previous research has shown that existing mechanisms are not always sufficiently effective [6], and technical universities need to improve their mechanisms for tech nology utilization and value creation in a broader sense [7]. Jacobsson et al [8] argue against only counting patents and spin-offs as results of technology transfer, and the present paper builds on the argument that developing support mechanisms for technology-based student ventures is a potentially fruitful avenue for universities to pursue
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