Startup Studio Newsletter | ED63
This week's edition features stories from Summit, Matthew Burris, FemTech Insider, Global Venturing, and Nobody Studios + news from Alloy Partners, 8 Clockwise, Deep Rack, Zoë Foundry & more.
Welcome to the Studio Stack newsletter ⚡️
This week’s newsletter is inspired by an article that’s been stuck in my head — about how Venture Studios are partnering with universities to commercialize intellectual property.
It’s not a new idea, but it’s one I think deserves way more attention. Honestly, university-backed Studios might be one of the model’s best use cases. The ingredients for success are already sitting inside campuses: talent, IP, physical space (which often helps with speed and commitment), institutional support, and often, funding set aside (or coming in from alumni) for student-led innovation.
You don’t have to build all that infrastructure from scratch — it already exists. Add in motivated students who have the time, energy, and curiosity to move fast (and often don’t need a stipend), and you have the perfect environment for rapid, capital-efficient venture building.
That said, there are real challenges worth watching out for.
Much of the IP coming out of universities still needs significant development before it’s ready for commercialization — and Studios tend to operate best when the core challenge is market validation rather than technical risk. Additionally, sorting out equity and ownership leads to cap-table issues, but even that feels worth tackling given the potential scale of impact.
If you’re building or backing a Studio, this is a space worth watching — and collaborating with. The piece below from Summit Venture Studio (a new one that’s now in the Global Venture Studio Database) is a great place to start.
👉 Read: How Summit Venture Studio Helps Commercialize University IP
Studio Stories
📝 The Four-Customer Challenge for Venture Studios: Why Understanding and Aligning Venture Studio Customers is Critical for Success - Matthew Burris
📝 Inside Daya Ventures: The Venture Studio That Built 16 Women’s Health Startups in Two Years - FemTech Insider
📝 How ADP builds ventures that stay inside the business - globalventuring.com
▶️ The honest truth about building a high-velocity venture studio - Nobody Studios
Studio News
Cambridge Future Tech and Arup sign MoU to develop Deep Rack Venture Studio
Zoë Foundry Spins Out Navwise to Accelerate Decision Intelligence for SMB Health Benefits
Studio Opportunities
💼 AventureLabs Perth seeking “Founder CFO wildcard”
💼 Growth Marketing Manager - City Innovation
💼 Creative Technologist - 10XBeta Venture Studio
P.S
4 NEW Studios were added to the Global Studio Database this week.
If you want your Studio added to the database, comment or email hello@studiostack.club.
That’s all for this issue, if you enjoyed it consider sharing with peers and fellow Studio friends. To connect with me, I’m always available on LinkedIn.
The ADP case study really caught my atention here. Building ventures that stay insde the parent company is such an underrated model compared to the typical spinout approach. It avoids the equity dilution headaches and keeps the innovations aligned with core business goals. Would love to see more examples of large enterprises using this interal studio model efectivly.
Thanks for sharing we will like to be added to the studio database please