Janis Machala

Startup veteran Janis Machala has accepted a year long appointment to oversee the The University of Washington's LaunchPad Services initiative, the latest move by the UW to accelerate the process by which academic research is turned into cutting-edge businesses.

Machala will serve as director of LaunchPad, a UW effort whose mission she says is to "help academics and researchers start companies." Machala will report directly to Linden Rhoads, who took the helm of UW Tech Transfer in August.

"I love to start things, so the idea to start this and have a clear slate from which to build from is really exciting," said Machala.

In her role, Machala said she will foster relationships with venture capital firms, establish an entrepreneur-in-residence program and assist researchers who are considering starting companies around their technologies. She's also considering the formation of an angel investment fund made up of UW alumni, an idea that the University of Notre Dame has tried through its IrishAngels program. The UW also announced that Fred Holt, a former Boeing researcher, will lead the Informed Research initiative in order to recruit industry leaders to assist researchers as they consider commercial applications.

"I think there is an interesting opportunity there," said Machala, who was instrumental in establishing the woman's angel networking group Seraph Capital.

Machala said that venture capital firms are intensely interested in the research going on at the UW, but they "really don't want to be walking the halls." With her deep connections in the startup community, Machala plans to make introductions and foster relationships. 

The entrepreneur-in-residence program will be one of the first steps toward that goal, matching an experienced entrepreneur with a UW researcher or professor.

Greg Gottesman, a partner at Madrona Venture Group, thinks that is a good idea since the UW already produces top notch technologies.

"The issue with UW spin-outs is often putting a quality business team and strategy around that technology," said Gottesman.  "That's what Janis has been doing for the last decade in the private sector.  She has a great network and knows pretty much everyone in town." 

Machala plans to put her 13-year-old technology consulting business, Paladin Partners, on hold for the next 12 months as she builds LaunchPad. Over the years, Machala has helped dozens of startup companies with recruiting, venture financing and other services.  Past clients include AccessLine, Dotster, AllRecipes.com, PayScale and Verdiem.

Before founding Paladin, Machala served  as chief executive of software maker Pinnacle Publishing. She's also worked at Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Wang Laboratories.

Machala said she was ready to try something new, adding that the UW provides a much bigger platform and support system from which to operate.

"I think I can have a much broader impact, helping to create more jobs in the region and more companies in the region," she said.

The UW Tech Transfer department has assisted in the formation of more than 240 companies since it was started in 1982. During the most recent fiscal year, it Tech Transfer generated $47 million from licensing deals and other sources.

Still, it has been criticized in the past for not doing enough to foster innovation in the state. In a statement, Rhoads said hiring Machala is a "huge step in UW TechTransfer's ability to provide world-class support to our researchers."