INAPI’s recent report on patents highlights the strategic role of connecting science, industry and entrepreneurship to turn knowledge into impact.
Innovation in Chile is undergoing an institutional transformation. In recent years, the country has sought to move from a model based on academic research and isolated ventures to one that systematically connects science, companies and public funding. In this transition, a relatively new player has taken center stage: science and technology hubs, institutions created in 2017 under a Corfo public policy (and now under the National Research and Development Agency, ANID) to drive technology transfer and speed up the arrival of new solutions on the market.
Their main role is to fill a space historically neglected in Chile: the intermediate phase between the generation of knowledge and its commercial application. In other words, the critical moment when many promising innovations used to get “stuck” for lack of seed funding, industrial development, intellectual property protection or business models attractive to private investment.
The National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) report “Patentes que impulsan la innovación” (Patents that drive innovation) brings together eleven Chilean technologies that have advanced from laboratory prototypes to licensing, industrial validation or commercialization. All of them received, to a greater or lesser extent, support from hubs such as Know Hub Chile, HubTec or Hub APTA.
According to the report, without these connectors many of the initiatives would have faced barriers that are hard to overcome: lack of intellectual property protection, lack of ties with companies, limited international visibility or weak technology transfer models.
Technology transfer
The featured cases, which span biotechnology, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, industrial sustainability, agriculture, mining and health, show that scientific research alone does not guarantee impact. For an innovation to become a scalable product or solution, it needs specialized support: technical maturation, industrial feasibility studies, patent protection and a commercial strategy that makes it possible to reach real markets.
“As hubs, we are playing an essential role in connecting scientific teams with companies, investors and global markets,” explains Jovanka Trebotich, Portfolio manager at Know Hub Chile. “This report shows that intellectual property not only protects an idea, but also enables our technologies to reach industry and solve real problems,” she adds.
The hubs’ work rests on a methodical approach: identifying technology capabilities with potential, strengthening their scientific and commercial viability, designing intellectual property strategies, seeking licensing agreements or supporting the creation of science-based spin-offs.
This work includes something that has historically been a challenge in Chile: narrowing the gap between universities and companies. Hubs not only seek interested investors or companies, but also translate academic language into solutions that industry can understand, drive business models and create connections that increase the chances of competing globally.
A strategic role for the knowledge economy
The INAPI report highlights Chilean technologies such as:
- Bioproc, which uses biotechnology to turn industrial gases into reusable resources;
- Photio, nanotechnology applied to surfaces that help clean up city air;
- Soquimat, a bio-based additive that turns wood waste into more sustainable paints.
All of them are part of Know Hub Chile’s portfolio. Their progress toward licensing, intellectual property protection or early stages of internationalization was directly supported by the corporation’s advice.
At a time when Chile seeks to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on raw materials, the ability to turn science into productive innovation is seen as a national priority. In this sense, hubs are becoming established as critical infrastructure of the innovation system, capable of bringing together public, business and scientific capabilities.
The report’s message is clear: whenever research is connected with industry through specialized mechanisms, the likelihood of creating competitive technologies increases significantly.
Hubs, a concept unknown barely a decade ago, are now positioned as essential catalysts for Chilean science to cross the boundary of the laboratory and become an engine of economic and social development.
