From research to business
What makes us different
 
 

Innovation and making things are important for us, but communicating and working with industry which will be the bridge to transfer it to our society can be challenging. There is a belief that researchers are hard to work with, they don’t understand the needs and dynamics of the industry very well, they are slow, there is no guaranty that they deliver something after all these crazy ideas, high-risk collaboration to invest, etc. You are free to add to that list according to your experiences.

As ETRO we are very well aware of those points. The source of this awareness is not just the feedback that we receive from industries, we also create companies at ETRO. We believe that our added value for the public and private sectors does not come only from our novel technologies but at the same time from the way we deal with these points:

  • We observe the industry’s needs, interests, and dynamics. We work closely with them to develop their ideas into fully formed opportunities aimed at their marketplace.
  • We communicate with project management language. It helps us to create an efficient strategic partnership with our partners.
  • We deliver results. For decades ETRO has had successful partnerships with the public and private sectors and finalized hundreds of inter/national projects resulting in millions of Euros.
  • Hands-on entrepreneurs. So far with 7 successful spin-offs launched from ETRO and it makes us the spin-off creation champion of VUB. They are all alive and successful. Our spin-offs created more than 220 new jobs in Belgium.
  • Unique ETRO idea valorization process. New ideas reises in the chaotic nature of our creative brains. At the same time, we know that if you want to turn these ideas into new ventures or to collaborate with the industry, we need well-defined steps towards the valorization goals. That’s why we have developed a unique valorization process that allows us to assess all the ideas in detail to investigate their market potential, select the most promising ones and manage all the steps up the spin-off creation.