What NDSU Research Foundation does

NDSU Research Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established on May 30, 1989, and headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, that serves as the technology transfer and commercialization arm for North Dakota State University. The foundation's core function is to manage, protect, and license intellectual property developed by NDSU researchers and affiliated programs, including the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the NDSU Woody Plant Improvement Program (active since 1954). It operates with a four-person staff under a 13-member Board of Directors that blends NDSU administrative leadership with external industry executives from companies such as Microsoft, Superior Manufacturing, Agathos Biologics, Bushel, and various agribusinesses.

The foundation's licensable portfolio encompasses more than 100 technologies and crop varieties spanning three primary product lines: (1) Agricultural Crop Varieties — including soybeans, wheat (hard red spring, durum, winter), barley, oats, flax, peas, lentils, chickpeas, and multiple bean classes, many protected under PVPA Title V or US patents; (2) Horticultural Woody Plants — cold-hardy trees and shrubs developed for the Northern Great Plains climate; and (3) Licensed Technologies — spanning advanced coatings (anti-icing, fouling-release, bio-based polyurethane/epoxy hybrids), biomedical innovations (drug delivery, tissue engineering, cancer treatments, vaccines), advanced materials (fluoropolymer composites, bio-based polymers, nanocomposites), energy systems (battery thermal management, solar, power grid monitoring), and AI/ML software tools (PhytoScore computer vision, QuIM-RAG NLP, graph-learning anomaly detection). Notable granted US patents include 8,852,458; 9,051,413; and 9,593,258, with additional applications pending across coatings, biomedical, and energy domains.

The foundation generates revenue exclusively through negotiated licensing fees and royalty payments from commercial licensees. The go-to-market motion is sales-led and inbound: prospective licensees search the Inteum-powered technology portal (technologies.ndsuresearchfoundation.org), filter across Life Sciences and Physical Sciences categories, and contact the foundation directly to negotiate licensing agreements. Seed distribution is channeled through the North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association (NDCISA). Primary customer segments are for-profit commercial businesses seeking to commercialize NDSU-developed IP and NDSU researchers/inventors seeking a pathway to commercialization. The foundation targets both domestic (Upper Midwest emphasis) and international markets, with no public pricing tiers, revenue disclosures, or published royalty rate schedules.

Name

NDSU Research Foundation

Legal name

NDSU Research Foundation

Website

https://ndsuresearchfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

NDSU Research Foundation is a Fargo-based 501(c)(3) non-profit that manages and licenses intellectual property developed at North Dakota State University, including 100+ crop varieties, horticultural introductions, and technologies spanning coatings, biomedical, energy, and AI/ML to commercial licensees worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Technology Transfer and IP Licensing

NAICS

Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) (533), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Deep Tech / R&D Commercialization CVC (FSANAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

STEM-Focused Research Universities (Engineering & Applied Sciences) (EDAHABAB), IP & Patent Information Publishing (Patent/Litigation Analytics, Prior Art) (MPAJACAK)

Keywords

• Technology transfer services
• Intellectual property licensing
• Agricultural variety licensing
• University research commercialization
• Horticultural plant breeding

Headquarters

HQ city

Fargo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Technology Licensing Royalties: The organization generates revenue through licensing fees and royalties from the commercialization of NDSU-developed technologies, agricultural varieties, and horticultural introductions. Licensees pay fees to access and commercialize the organization's intellectual property portfolio.
2. Research Fee and Royalty Payments: Collects research fee and royalty payments from licensees through an online payment system, providing a convenient channel for commercial partners to fulfill their contractual obligations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NDSU Research Foundation manages and licenses intellectual property developed at North Dakota State University, acting as the university's technology transfer and commercialization arm. It provides a portfolio of 100+ licensable innovations spanning agricultural crop varieties, horticultural woody plants, advanced coatings, biomedical technologies, advanced materials, energy systems, and AI/ML software tools, with revenue generated through negotiated licensing fees and royalty payments from commercial licensees.

Product overview

NDSU Research Foundation is a technology licensing organization that manages a diverse portfolio of innovations from North Dakota State University. The portfolio consists of three main product lines: (1) Agricultural Crop Varieties including soybean, wheat, durum, barley, oat, bean, pea, chickpea, lentil, flax, and potato cultivars; (2) Horticultural Woody Plants from the NDSU Woody Plant Improvement Program; and (3) Licensed Technologies spanning coatings (anti-icing, fouling-release, corrosion-resistant), biomedical (drug delivery, tissue engineering, cancer treatments), advanced materials (bio-based polymers, nanocomposites), energy systems (battery management, solar), AI/ML software tools (PhytoScore, QA systems), and agricultural innovations (pesticides, robotics). All technologies are available for licensing to commercial partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agricultural Crop Varieties (Licensing) Licensable agricultural crop varieties developed by NDSU and the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, including soybean, wheat (hard red spring, durum, winter), barley, oats, flax, peas, lentils, chickpeas, and beans (pinto, navy, black, kidney, great northern, pink). Licensed to commercial partners including seed companies and agricultural producers.
• Horticultural Woody Plants (Licensing) Superior woody plant varieties (trees, shrubs, and ornamental plants) developed by the NDSU Woody Plant Improvement Program since 1954, suited for the Northern Great Plains climate. Licensed to commercial nurseries and growers, including ornamental shade trees, flowering shrubs, and fruit trees.
• Coatings Technologies (Licensing) Licensable coating technologies including anti-icing coatings, fouling-release coatings, corrosion-resistant coatings, heat-resistant coatings, bio-based coatings, and UV-curable coatings developed for marine, aerospace, automotive, and industrial applications. Licensed to manufacturers and industrial companies.
• Biomedical Technologies (Licensing) Licensable biomedical innovations including drug delivery systems, tissue engineering scaffolds, cancer detection assays, cancer treatment compounds, vaccines, and medical device technologies. Licensed to pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies.
• Advanced Materials (Licensing) Licensable materials science innovations including bio-based polymers, nanocomposites, quantum dots, aerogels, biodegradable materials, and nanoparticle technologies. Licensed to manufacturers and materials companies across industrial sectors.
• Energy Technologies (Licensing) Licensable energy-related technologies including modular battery thermal management systems for electric vehicles, solar technologies, power grid monitoring via graph learning anomaly detection, and sustainable energy systems. Licensed to energy and automotive companies.
• AI/ML Software Tools (Licensing) Licensable artificial intelligence and machine learning software including PhytoScore for freeze damage quantification using RGB and hyperspectral imagery, QuIM-RAG domain-specific QA systems using inverted question matching, and ML-based materials optimization for primer coatings.
• Agricultural Technologies (Licensing) Licensable agricultural innovations including pesticides, fertilizers, soil sensors, robotics for greenhouses, and precision agriculture systems. Licensed to agricultural input and equipment companies.
• Online Research Fee and Royalty Payment Service Online payment portal that enables licensees of NDSU Research Foundation technologies to submit research fee and royalty payments through a convenient web-based form, providing a streamlined channel for commercial partners to fulfill their contractual obligations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Established May 30, 1989, with over 35 years of technology transfer experience

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• North Dakota Agricultural Experiment StationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe NDSU Research Foundation works closely with the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station for the release and licensing of agricultural crop varieties. The Experiment Station develops and releases varieties while the Foundation manages licensing and commercialization.
• North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association (NDCISA)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNDCISA holds license agreements with the NDSU Research Foundation to produce and distribute seed for multiple crop varieties including ND Hammond flax, ND Rolette soybean, ND Eagle lentil, ND Dickey soybean, and ND Noreen wheat.
• North Dakota State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Research Foundation is affiliated with NDSU and facilitates the transfer of all NDSU scientific discoveries to the marketplace. NDSU researchers and inventors submit disclosures through the Foundation for commercialization.
• North Dakota State University Woody Plant Improvement ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Woody Plant Improvement Program (active since 1954) develops superior woody plant varieties for the Northern Great Plains. Varieties are commercialized through the Research Foundation.
• Maynard NexsenminorOthersJohn Hanish, a shareholder at Maynard Nexsen, serves on the Board of Directors, providing legal and business expertise to the Foundation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM): AUTM is the professional association for technology transfer offices at universities and research institutions, providing benchmarking, training, and best practices that NDSU Research Foundation participates in. Adjacent ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.
• Inteum: Inteum provides the technology publisher software platform that powers NDSU Research Foundation's technology search portal (technologies.ndsuresearchfoundation.org). Ecosystem technology vendor rather than a competitor; supports similar licensing workflows for many peer tech transfer offices.

Broad incumbents

• Research Foundation for the State University of New York: RF SUNY is a large, established university research foundation handling technology transfer, licensing, and sponsored program administration for SUNY institutions. Comparable in mission but operates at significantly larger scale across a multi-campus public university system.
• Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF): WARF is one of the largest and oldest university technology transfer offices in the US, managing patents and licensing from University of Wisconsin research. It is the most established direct analogue to NDSU Research Foundation's mission, but operates at significantly larger scale across a broader R&D base.

Direct peers

• Purdue Research Foundation / Purdue Innovates: Purdue Research Foundation handles technology transfer, IP protection, and licensing for Purdue University inventions, with a similar land-grant research base covering agriculture, engineering, and life sciences. Directly comparable mission and operating model to NDSU Research Foundation.
• University of Minnesota Technology Commercialization: The University of Minnesota's tech transfer office manages IP licensing and startup formation from UMN research across agriculture, life sciences, and engineering. Comparable geographic and institutional profile to NDSU Research Foundation as a fellow Big Ten / Upper Midwest research university commercialization arm.
• MSU Technologies: MSU Technologies handles technology transfer and licensing for Michigan State University research, with similar breadth across agriculture, engineering, materials, and biomedical inventions. Directly comparable university tech transfer office serving a regional research base.
• South Dakota State University Research Foundation: Closest regional peer: SDSU Research Foundation performs a near-identical technology transfer and IP licensing function for a neighboring Northern Plains land-grant university with similar agricultural and engineering research portfolios. Closest comparable mission and scale.
• Iowa State University Research Foundation: ISURF manages IP and licensing for Iowa State University research, with deep overlap in agricultural crop varieties, plant breeding, and engineering technology licensing. Closely mirrors NDSU Research Foundation's Midwest land-grant university commercialization focus.

Regional players

• Colorado State University Research Foundation: CSU Research Foundation handles IP and licensing for Colorado State University research, with comparable focus on agriculture, materials, and biotech. Functions identically but serves a different regional research base than NDSU.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/p/NDSU-Research-Foundation-61556799012295
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ndsu-research-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about NDSU Research Foundation