The IC² Institute was founded in 1977 as a “think and do” tank to test the belief of its founder, George Kozmetsky, that technological innovation can catalyze regional economic development through the active and directional collaboration among the university, government, and private sectors.
Since then, the Institute has researched the theory and practice of entrepreneurial wealth creation and has been instrumental in Austin’s growth as an innovation and technology center and in the development of knowledge-based economies in over 30 countries.
Key Institute programs applying knowledge gained from ongoing research activities in Central Texas and throughout the world include:
Austin Technology Incubator
The Austin Technology Incubator harnesses business, government and academic resources to provide strategic counsel, operational guidance, and infrastructure support to its member companies to help them transition into successful, high growth technology businesses. Student mentoring and research programs educate in entrepreneurial practice while directly assisting member companies.
ATI has helped more than 250 companies collectively raise $1 billion of investment; its 2012 graduating class alone raised over $175 million in investor capital, with more than 85% of that class receiving funding.
Global Commercialization Group
The Global Commercialization Group creates and delivers technology commercialization training and international business development programs around the world. Innovators in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East have received assistance from GCG in bringing their technology-based products and services to international markets.
In the past five years, GCG has worked with over 1000 technologies and with innovators in 15 countries and has facilitated over $100M in international business engagements creating >$300M in economic impact.
Bureau of Business Research
The Bureau of Business Research provides Texas businesses and policymakers with applied economic research and data to strengthen the state’s business environment. Founded in 1926, the BBR has developed a reputation for nonpartisan analysis of economic trends through publications, independent reports, and sponsored research.
Since 1985, the BBR has published 4 books, 25 technical reports, and more than 170 articles, and answered countless inquiries from small businesses about economic conditions in Texas.
Research and Publications
In addition to in-house research staff, the IC² Institute’s research resources include 18 Endowed Fellows on the UT Austin faculty, a network of over 160 Global Fellows throughout the world, and a rotating cast of Visiting Scholars. Together they have used data collected from the Institute’s education and service programs to produce ground-breaking work on technology commercialization, regional economic development, and entrepreneurship.
IC² publications to date include over 150 books, 135 book chapters and journal articles, 80 technical reports, and 240 working papers.
These are just highlights. Please explore our site to learn about our other offerings in Research, Education, Regional Economic Development, and Technology Incubation and Acceleration, or contact us at info@ic2.utexas.edu.


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