WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Research Foundation announces the launch of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a website that offers a how-to approach to help entrepreneurs, investors, collaborators and others find information on commercializing Purdue innovations. The site also will help them partner with the university, create a startup and invest in technologies.

"There is so much incredible innovation taking place at Purdue and across the state, and there is a wealth of resources to help commercialize, fund and market new technologies. The challenge we've witnessed is driving the innovator, collaborator or investor to the available resources," said Dan Hasler, president and chief entrepreneurial officer of the Purdue Research Foundation. "The Innovation and Entrepreneurship website provides an important starting point to connect people with opportunities."

The website provides a variety of links, including resources on how to:

• Start a company
• Look for space
• Protect a technology
• Fund an innovation
• Find entrepreneurial programs
• Find interesting technologies
• Find investment opportunities

The launch of the new website follows the opening of the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. The foundry collaborates with longstanding activities already taking place in the center with a goal to meet the needs of Purdue innovators who have an interest in forming a startup or licensing their discoveries.

"Navigating through the commercialization process is a daunting process for first-time entrepreneurs," said Oliver Wendt, a Purdue assistant professor of speech, language and hearing sciences and in educational studies. "Having a website to find resources is a definite plus, and being able to get assistance in person at the Burton D. Morgan Center is equally helpful."

Wendt is commercializing SPEAK all! and SPEAK more!, two mobile apps to help children with nonverbal autism develop speech and language skills.