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The University of Houston has signed a $25 million deal with an investment group known as the Texas Regional Collegiate Center, or TCRC. The goal of the partnership is to commercialize technologies created by the UH faculty.
The deal includes $15 million for a new building at the University of Houston’s Energy Research Park, which will house laboratories and startup businesses. It also includes a venture capital fund that will seek backing from foreign investors through the EB-5 visa program.
Huan Le is one of TCRC’s principals.
“There’s Silicon Valley, and there’s New York, and I think Houston should be in that sort of league,” Le says.
Rathindra Bose is the University of Houston’s vice president for research and technology transfer.
“This partnership is going to help us to take our technology to marketplace and will help TCRC to fulfill their dream,” Bose says. “They’re looking for innovative products, and we are making those innovative products from the university.”
Bose says the commercialization of UH patents could ultimately bring hundreds or even thousands of new jobs to the Houston area.
