U of M reports record number of startups

The University of Minnesota says it has launched a record number of startup companies in its 2013 fiscal year.

Fourteen U of M research projects turned into startup companies this fiscal year. The research projects include a smartphone-based Breathalyzer and a process that transforms sugar-based feedstocks into a chemical used in the production of plastic.

The projects came about through the U's Office for Technology Commercialization's Venture Center.

The U says about 80 percent of the startups launched by the center since its inception in 2006 are still operating.

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