Technology Transfer 'TechBridge' Shines with 900 Cases Annually in SMEs

TechBridge, a Demand-Based Technology Transfer Platform, Shows Results... Increase in Technology Transfer Cases

#1. P&C Solution, an extended reality (XR) simulator manufacturer, received technology transfer in 2015 from Chungbuk National University for the ‘Capacitor Capacity Variation-Based Physical Cloning Prevention Function System.’ The company, which developed and commercialized related products such as virtual reality-based training simulators for artillery education, received technology transfers last year from Keimyung University, including the ‘Multi-view Object Detection Method Using Shared Regional Features,’ and is currently developing products. Having secured core technologies through technology transfers, P&C Solution has shown a high annual sales growth rate of 150% since adopting the technology in 2015.

#2. Batangsaek ENG, a social enterprise specializing in facility safety inspection and repair, introduced drone-mounted deep learning-based automatic crack inspection technology from Sejong University last year and is developing products through government research and development (R&D) projects. Since its establishment in 2014, the company’s sales have increased at an average annual rate of 69.6% until last year, and with the recovery of the construction market and commercialization of the introduced technology, it is expected to accelerate its growth further.

The demand-based technology trading platform ‘Tech-Bridge,’ operated by the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (Kibo), is playing a bridging role in the technological leap and growth of small and medium-sized ventures. Since its launch in 2014, the number of technology transfers through Tech-Bridge has increased every year, reaching 900 cases annually last year. Given this upward trend, it is expected that soon 1,000 technologies will be transferred annually to small and medium-sized ventures through Tech-Bridge.

According to Kibo on the 14th, the total number of technology transfers using Tech-Bridge reached 4,643 cases by last year. Starting with 254 technology transfers in the first year, last year recorded 900 technology transfers. In six years, the number of technologies that have flourished in small businesses through Tech-Bridge has increased nearly fourfold annually.

Tech-Bridge is a platform that matches technologies small and medium-sized ventures want to adopt with technologies held by universities, research institutes, and the private sector, supporting technology transfer and commercialization. It covers excellent public technologies such as patents from universities and research institutes, and Kibo’s nationwide sales network actively discovers technology demands from small and medium-sized ventures to build a database (DB), which is a distinctive feature.

Kibo discovers about 1,500 small business demand technologies annually to activate Tech-Bridge. As of the end of last month, the cumulative total reached 11,158 cases, which are provided to universities and research institutions. Additionally, Kibo has established a technology trading network with 215 universities and public research institutes nationwide and secured about 380,000 supply technologies through daily patent DB updates. A Kibo official explained, “Tech-Bridge is an online-offline integrated platform that gathers demand and supply technology information to provide customized information and support technology matching. Based on the matching results of demand and supply technologies, Kibo’s eight nationwide technology innovation centers support technology transfer brokerage to small and medium-sized ventures.”

The collected demand technologies and supply technologies from universities or public research institutes are automatically matched. This matching system is also a technology patented in 2015. The technology transfer process is simple. When a small business finds and applies for supply technology on the Tech-Bridge platform, it is received by the relevant technology innovation center. Then, in-depth counseling by the technology innovation center takes place. Participants in technology trading can exchange information and negotiate online. Consulting support is provided when contracts are made. A Kibo official said, “Tech-Bridge promotes the commercialization of excellent technologies through technology trading brokerage. We will strive to contribute to enhancing the technological competitiveness of small and medium-sized ventures and promoting the commercialization of public technologies.”