How research becomes a company.
Research that is ready to leave the lab moves through three offices in sequence — the Office of Strategy and Scientific Direction confirms scientific readiness, the Venture and IP Office protects and transfers the IP, and Sphuran Innovation Holdings builds the company. Five years is the longest a venture stays inside the venture office. At three years, every venture is reviewed for graduation, redirection, or closure.
Three offices, in sequence.
- 01
Division research
A research program in one of the five divisions matures past proof-of-concept. The work is documented; the IP can be protected.
- 02
Readiness review
The Office of Strategy and Scientific Direction confirms the technology is ready to leave the lab, and that releasing it will not hollow out the program it came from.
- 03
IP transfer
The Venture and IP Office files the patents, structures the licence, and moves the IP out of the research system. Nothing reaches a founder before this is done.
- 04
Venture formation
Sphuran Innovation Holdings receives the technology. It assembles a founding team, incorporates the company, and provides early governance and capital.
A venture rarely comes from one division. Research programs have a lead division; the venture that grows from them usually combines work from several. The Office of Strategy and Scientific Direction coordinates which departments contribute as the venture forms.
Maximum five years. Mandatory review at three.
- EXIT 01 Graduate to OpCo
- EXIT 02 Merge
- EXIT 03 Close
SIH is a venture's home through its earliest years. The maximum window is five years from incorporation. At three years, a mandatory review decides whether the venture is on a credible path to graduation. If it is, the runway continues. If not, the venture is redirected — merged, extended with new milestones, or closed. Closures are documented; the knowledge returns to the institution.
Three structural commitments.
Authority is separated.
Research direction, IP transfer, and venture formation sit with three different offices — the strategy, IP, and venture offices — with explicit handoffs.
Mission alignment is the first filter.
Investor and partner relationships are assessed against mission alignment before commercial terms are discussed.
Closure is a designed path.
A venture that does not graduate is closed with documented learning. The institution learns from either result.