Launch Tennessee 
Technology
Transfer Offices
Tennessee’s technology transfer offices are dedicated to identifying research that has commercialization potential. LaunchTN collaborates with those offices to develop strategies that advance the successful transition of technologies from laboratory to market. Tennessee-based companies licensing technology from these institutions have full access to LaunchTN’s portfolio of resources.
Office Locations *Click a city to see details
Clarksville
Austin Peay State University
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is dedicated to providing the highest quality support for research opportunities, including pre- and post-award support services to faculty, staff, and administrators for grants and external funding opportunities submitted on behalf of Austin Peay State University or received in connection with a partnering institution/agency.
Cookeville
Tennessee Technology
University
Tennessee Tech University strives to promote research, scholarship and creative activities that engage faculty, students and external partners. The Office of Research and Economic Development is committed to fostering an open environment to not only encourage research but also support entrepreneurial endeavors across campus.
Johnson City
East Tennessee State University
The mission is to support, encourage and promote research and sponsored programs at East Tennessee State University. It is the policy to encourage inventions, discoveries, and the production of copyrightable and trademarkable materials by members of the institution; facilitate the utilization of such discoveries and materials to the benefit of the public, the University, and members of the University community through dissemination of results; and provide for the equitable sharing of any proceeds derived from the commercial exploitation of inventions, discoveries, copyrightable and trademarkable materials in which, pursuant to the ETSU policy on Patents and Copyrights, the University is deemed to have an interest
Knoxville
University of Tennessee Research Foundation
The University of Tennessee Research Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes the commercialization of UT intellectual property, encourages an entrepreneurial culture, contributes to state and regional economic development, and promotes research and education to benefit the people of Tennessee and beyond. While UTRF is a separate entity from UT, it provides assistance and resources to the research activities of faculty, staff and students of the UT system (including campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Martin, the Health Science Center in Memphis, the state-wide Institute of Agriculture, the UT Space Institute in Tullahoma, and the UT Institute of Public Service). UTRF works to help move ideas to the marketplace.
Memphis
The University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology
Housed within the FedEx Institute of Technology, the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) generates revenue for the University by shepherding new innovations from big idea to licensed intellectual property to breakthrough commercial product. The number of invention disclosures, issued U.S. patents, copyrights and licenses grows each year, contributing to the success of start-ups and established corporations alike and improving products and processes in fields ranging from water treatment to neuroscience.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has an outstanding track record of world-class research and innovation, leading to major scientific advances and ground-breaking new inventions in our mission to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.
University of Tennessee Research Foundation
The University of Tennessee Research Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes the commercialization of UT intellectual property, encourages an entrepreneurial culture, contributes to state and regional economic development, and promotes research and education to benefit the people of Tennessee and beyond. While UTRF is a separate entity from UT, it provides assistance and resources to the research activities of faculty, staff and students of the UT system (including campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Martin, the Health Science Center in Memphis, the state-wide Institute of Agriculture, the UT Space Institute in Tullahoma, and the UT Institute of Public Service). UTRF works to help move ideas to the marketplace.
Murfreesboro
Middle Tennessee State University
The mission of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs is to stimulate research and creative activities by improving infrastructure, providing seed grants and matching funds, making researchers aware of funding opportunities, providing expertise on pre-award and post-award grant preparation and administration, and helping establish partnerships with public and private sector entities that benefit the students, faculty, and university.
Nashville
Vanderbilt University Center for Technology Transfer & Commercialization
Vanderbilt Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization’s mission is to provide professional commercialization services to the Vanderbilt community, thus optimizing the flow of innovation to the marketplace and generating revenue that supports future research activities, while having a positive impact on society.
Tennessee State University
The Division of Research and Sponsored Programs works to enable our research community, through support and development, to achieve research goals through external funding.
Meharry Medical College
Tech transfer pertains to all matters of moving intellectual property developed at Meharry to the marketplace. This includes patent development and licensing, copyrights, material transfer agreements, and non-disclosure agreements among other modes of protecting material and intellectual discoveries.
Fisk University
The Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (OSP) at Fisk University serves as an advocate for sponsored research; advise the administration of matters of regulatory compliance; assist faculty, staff and students in finding funding opportunities; assist faculty with the development of proposals; and promote internal sponsorship of scholarly activities.
Oak Ridge
Y12 National Security Complex
The Y‑12 National Security Complex is a premier manufacturing facility dedicated to making our nation and the world a safer place and plays a vital role in the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Security Enterprise.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory actively seeks and develops industry and technology transfer partnerships that increase the Lab’s economic impact, accelerate deployment of ORNL-developed technologies, and strengthen innovation ecosystems regionally and nationally.
Statewide
Tennessee Board of Regents
The College System of Tennessee, governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), is Tennessee’s largest higher education system, governing 40 post-secondary educational institutions with over 200 teaching locations. The TBR system includes 13 community colleges, 27 colleges of applied technology, and TN eCampus.
University of Tennessee Research Foundation
UTRF promotes the commercialization of UT intellectual property and encourages an entrepreneurial culture.