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A great idea rarely achieves its full potential if it fails to make it into the marketplace.

That’s the premise behind a new center at the University of Hawaii — the — that aims to connect researchers and startup entrepreneurs with investors, “providing a launch pad for commercialization.”

Vassilis Syrmos, UH vice president for research and innovation, says the absence of such a center often results in a “valley of death” — “the vast chasm that often prevents a great idea from reaching commercial viability.”

The University of Hawaii’s Innovation Initiative aims to double outside research funding to $1 billion annually.

UH

“The crossover to commercialization is expensive and for many scientists, including our own, success without the proper ecosystem that a POCC provides often results in the proverbial ‘valley of death’,” Syrmos said in a statement.

UH is already engaging in world-class research, and it has been for some time. A UH scientist back in the 1990s. More recently, students that deployed into space last year.

But without a proof of concept center, many ideas struggle to get recognition, a UH press release says. Proof of concept centers are at universities across the country.

“XLR8UH will harvest promising UH research, develop talented UH entrepreneurs and connect them to a diverse network of investors and businesses,” the press release says. Successful technologies could also be eligible for further funding from the Upside Fund, a UH-focused venture fund based out of the UH Foundation.

Researchers who are accepted to XLR8UH must successfully complete a business education program conducted in conjunction with the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship.

“I’m a strong proponent of this dynamic and highly collaborative approach,” UH President David Lassner said in a statement.  “It will support our innovative faculty and students in bringing their creative ideas and technologies to the community and is a critical aspect of the Hawaii Innovation Initiative and our work to create more great jobs in Hawaii.”

The university’s Innovation Initiative endeavors to double outside funding for UH research to $1 billion annually. It also aims to build a team of 50 world-class researchers. The university has hired at least two such researchers thus far.