Types of spin-offs in a university context: a classification proposal

In the last times a growing emphasis exists in the commercialization of the university investigation, in particular, through the creation of companies (spin-offs). However, the phenomena that the concept of university spinoff is about embracing are not homogeneous. For this reason, it seems convenient to identify the different realities that it includes organizing them by means of typologies. The present work analyzes this question by means of a revision of the existent literature, and it proposes a classification that distinguishes four spin-offs types: independent, linked, joint venture and subsidiary. The three key approaches used to distinguish these four types of university spin-offs are: the implication or not of the investigator as entrepreneur, the nature of the transferred knowledge and the participation of external partners in the new company.