Thursday, January 21, 2010

USC Spinouts Raised $148M In Last Two Years, Says University

The University of Southern California is reporting today that spinouts out of the school have raised $148m in the last two calendar years (2008-2009), and that there are now at least 24 USC spinouts currently in business. The school--which has been actively encouraging startup activity based on its research in recent years--said that 16 USC startups raised $148M, in a combination of new startup funding and additional rounds of financing for those companies. The school said that the 24 spinouts of the school employ approximately 500 full time employees, with at least 267 of those jobs in Los Angeles. USC also reported that it owns equity in 32 startups, though none of those startups were identified. Some of the more visible startups here in Southern California which are spinouts of the school are Language Weaver, Big Stage Entertainment, Pivotal Biosciences, and Alelo.