Partnership with Boomerang Ventures to strengthen Purdue startups, bring health care innovations to market faster
Purdue University’s impact on lives around the globe may grow even stronger thanks to a new partnership.
An agreement between venture studio and fund Boomerang Ventures, the Purdue Foundry and the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization will assist in developing Purdue-related health care startups and health care-related intellectual property yet to reach the market.
Purdue Foundry and OTC will provide lists of startups and intellectual property to Boomerang, which will vet the lists to determine which seem most promising to them.
Oscar Moralez, founder and managing partner at Indianapolis-based Boomerang, said the health care venture studio builds companies out of promising ideas by collaborating with founders, universities, health systems and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
“Purdue University stands out in Indiana and the Midwest because of its College of Engineering and the Krannert School of Management. Also, Purdue Foundry and Purdue Research Foundation have been active in life science innovations for years,” Moralez said. “This partnership is a great way to access new technologies and increase the opportunity to bring new health care innovations to life.”
Wade Lange, chief entrepreneurial officer at Purdue Foundry, said commercializing intellectual property so it solves problems in the health care space is a team sport. He said it requires adding Boomerang’s complementary skills, including product development and marketing, to Purdue scientists’ deep technological expertise in health care.
“Boomerang brings an impressive team of highly experienced professionals who are well-steeped in the disciplines of product development, sales, marketing and others to team up with Purdue researchers and bring those big ideas to market,” Lange said.
Audrey Beckman, chief innovation officer at Boomerang, said the firm is excited about the synergistic opportunities that the partnership represents.
“We have already seen strong life science intellectual property coming from Purdue innovators and entrepreneurs,” Beckman said. “Oscar Moralez has long-standing business relationships with leaders at Purdue Foundry and Purdue Research Foundation, leading to him teaching Intro to Entrepreneurship this fall. Boomerang Venture Studio looks forward to continuing to evaluate health care IP originating from Purdue University through this new partnership.”