Catalysts for Change: The Role of Small Business Funders in the Creation and Dissemination of Innovation.
A gap exists between the expanding space of technological innovations to aid those affected by autism spectrum disorders, and the actual impact of those technologies on daily lives. This gap can be addressed through a very practical path of commercialization. However, the path from a technological innovation to a commercially viable product is fraught with challenges. These challenges can be mitigated through small business funding agencies, which are, more and more, catalyzing the dissemination of innovation by fostering social entrepreneurship through capital support and venture philanthropy. This letter describes the differences and nature of these agencies, and their importance in facilitating the translational and real-world impact of technological and scientific discoveries.
Child Study Center, Yale University, 40 Temple St Suite 7D, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA. frederick.shic@yale.edu.
Frederick
F
Shic
Delivering Scientific Innovation for Autism LLC (DELSIA), Autism Speaks, 85 Devonshire Street, 9th Floor, Boston, MA, 02109, USA. daniel.smith@autismspeaks.org.
Daniel
D
Smith
NeuroNetworks Fund, 101 Park Ave, New York, NY, 10178, USA.
Brian
B
Horsburgh
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, 111 E. 210th Street, Bronx, NY, 10467, USA. eholland@montefiore.org.
Eric
E
Hollander
School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Technology Square Research Building 85 5th Street NE TSRB 221A, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0280, USA. rehg@gatech.edu.
James M
JM
Rehg
Department of Health Sciences, College of Computer and Information Science, Northeastern University, 312E Robinson Hall, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. m.goodwin@neu.edu.
Matthew
M
Goodwin
D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000191:economics* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D006801:Humans; D058012:Small Business
Business; Commercialization; Funding; Innovation; Technology; Translational science; Venture philanthropy