Kevin Byrne, TUFF’s COO, discusses “Financing for Tech Businesses” at AURP

The Association of University Research Parks (AURP) hosted its spring training conference in Phoenix, Arizona on the 7th through 11th of March. The event provided AURP members an intimate setting to catalyze in-depth discussions regarding current trends in research park development.

In conjunction with the President of the Association of University Technology Mangers (AUTM) Dr. Ashley Steven, TUFF’s COO Kevin Byrne led an in-depth discussion of the various pros and cons of three different approaches in financing tech businesses: direct university financing, university foundation financing, and private angel capital investments. The comprehensive discussion covered financing strategies utilizing each approach in solidarity as well as a mix and match tactic. Hypothetical and actual were discussed to allow participants to gain a better understanding of university, foundation, angel and entrepreneur perspectives.