Universities Support to Spin-Offs Academics in Early and Later Stages

Research on academic spin-offs demonstrate different types of support provided by universities in the early and later development stages. This study aims to analyze the forms of support provided by universities to academic spin-offs in these development stages. It was conducted a study of multiple cases with two academic spin-offs: one from a public university and other from a private university, both located in the city of Aracaju, Sergipe State, Brazil. Academic spin-offs were selected based on the development stage, one has less than four years of creation (early stage), and the other more than four years (later stage). It was seen that the support provided by universities to spin-offs in the analysed cases was considered poor in both phases. Thus, there was no active participation of the university in obtaining resources, providing contacts or offer courses focused on entrepreneurship. The universities merit was based on the provision of incubators and, through them, training courses and infrastructure. It is suggested that it is necessary to raise awareness in universities about the importance of encouraging entrepreneurship and university support on the first year of the spin-off, which are the most critical