Our approach is to find opportunities in the market, connect those opportunities with science and technology, and create commercialisation pathways to bring the solution to life.
Our commercialisation experts help researchers plan their science investments so that they can create market impact and develop the optimal commercialisation pathway based on how to create the most positive impact for Australia and the world from our inventions, science capabilities and facilities.
See an opportunity in the market and would like to work with us on a developing a pathway to commercialisation? Our commercialisation experts can help.
Contact us to start the conversation.
Graphic representation of the pathway to commercialisation at CSIRO.
Our commercialisation pathways
Sell IP
We may sell our intellectual property (IP) outright to a third-party.
Licence for royalties and/or equity
We may licence our intellectual property (IP) to an appropriate third-party entity for further development or commercialisation, in one or more fields, in exchange for royalties on revenue or a share in the company.
Research for equity
We may provide research services or access to capabilities to an appropriate third-party company in exchange for equity in the company if there is a good strategic fit and if it enables the company to better apply its capital to the commercial development of the opportunity.
Collaborative venture
We may form a collaborative venture with one or more entities, such as Australian companies, entrepreneurs, universities, and investors through a formal agreement to pool resources and capabilities, share ownership, returns, risks, and governance to pursue major industry-building opportunities.
Proto-business (spin in)
When the best way to maximise the impact of a commercialisation opportunity is to keep the business inside CSIRO, a special team is dedicated to it full time to operate it like a business venture within CSIRO.
CSIRO spin-out
We may be involved in establishing a separate legal entity, with the intention of it being the commercialisation vehicle for a specific technology or capability. CSIRO spinouts are usually based on CSIRO’s background Intellectual Property and involve staff choosing to leave CSIRO to join the new company.
Employee start-up
To create a pathway for researchers or other staff to become full time entrepreneurs, we may choose to licence a technology to an entity established by CSIRO staff when they choose to leave the organisation if it has been determined to be the best path to impact. Typically, this pathway will see the CSIRO employee assemble the deal.
Special purpose vehicle
At times CSIRO may set up special purpose vehicles to fulfil a specific role in the innovation ecosystem to encourage or facilitate the utilisation or application of research outputs. Such entities are not limited to individual technologies or opportunities; instead they support the research commercialisation system itself.