After he developed the compound that prompts soybeans to gobble up that nitrogen, he was approached by a former grad student representing Innocentre, a venture capital group that specializes in transferring the fruits of academic research into the private sector. In 1999-2000, McGill spun six companies past the Roddick Gates and into the private sector, for a total of 15 since 1998. Because of declining funds, I was worried that in the very near future I was going to have to fire him. Smith and the technician in question, Stewart Leibovitch, BA'81, BSc'85, MSc'88, ran the company together until things became complicated enough that they decided to enlist someone with more business experience. Leibovitch remains VP in charge of product development, and Smith is a part owner and occasional consultant.
Companies are often outgrowths of research contracts.
For example, Tyrogene, a research group fusing the complementary cell research of Michel Tremblay and Morag Park, was initially supported by two venture capital companies, T2C2 and Medtech. Increased funding was the first benefit, but Tyrogene's work, which focuses on phosphate-controlling enzymes and their relation to conditions such as cancer and diabetes, caught the attention of biopharmaceutical companies. Tyrogene was incorporated so that it could be bought by Kinetek, a University of British Columbia spin-off company from Vancouver. Tyrogene now has a three-year contract from Kinetek, a campus lab, and six research positions. Often, the researcher is approached first by a venture capitalist.