The object of this paper is the study of the existing organizational forms of startups and the assessment of their compliance with the tasks of technology transfer. It has been established that existing approaches to understanding startups do not meet the needs of technology transfer. The feasibility of improving their legal status is substantiated. Directions for improving the form of a startup in the field of technology transfer have been formed. The following are proposed as the characteristic features of startups in the field of technology transfer: having the status of a business entity, meeting the requirements of a production and commercial entity, having technology or rights to technology, or performing work on its creation. The need to change the provisions of the Framework Program for research and innovation "Horizon Europe" by introducing a separate category of startups in the field of technology transfer is substantiated. Their definition as autonomous small (medium-sized) enterprises at an early stage of their life cycle is proposed. As such, created as a division of a university or research institution, and carrying out production commercial activities and owning the rights to technology or aimed at new technologies or scaling existing business models based on them. A universal legal construction of a startup in the field of technology transfer is proposed, which can be used in national legislation. Under it, it is proposed to understand a business entity, created recently, with the purpose of carrying out production activities and obtaining profit, based on the realization of the appropriate right to technology. The research is aimed at forming directions for improving the legal status of startups. The research results can be used in the formation of international normative acts, to regulate these relations and serve as a basis for further scientific research