Our process begins with detailed assessments to understand the technological maturity and commercial readiness of each project in our portfolio.

Amplification

Selected projects advance to the amplification stage, where Tata Center staff help research teams establish prototype business models and build techno-economic models that help to identify opportunities and risks for the projects.

Assembly

A subset then advance to the assembly stage, where the Center helps identify

• (a) cofounders for a new startup, or
• (b) existing firms who may be interested in licensing the technology, or
• (c) other off-takers such as NGOs who may wish to incorporate our innovations into their programs.

This is also the stage where we help research teams garner outside funding, attract talent, and/or implementation partners.

Advancement

The most promising teams from this group enter the final stage of the Translational Research Program, called advancement.

In this stage, our leadership team helps the researchers work with the MIT Technology Licensing Office, locate potential sources of funding within the MIT ecosystem, identify manufacturing and distribution partners, organize pilots and demonstrations, and get legal and accounting advice.