Marblar – Info Sheet – Press and Technology Holders

Why Marblar?

In university and corporate research settings there are incredible innovations being

produced and discoveries uncovered secondary to applied and blue-skies research.

However, researchers’ discoveries can be years ahead of their time; the real-world

relevance of these disclosures not always obvious to the Technology Transfer Office

(TTO) or even to the inventor. Indeed, TTOs often do not have the resources or expertise to keep up

with their faculty, nor do they have the bandwidth to always think laterally on how an invention may be

applied in alternate settings. Meanwhile, in the private sector, technology is frequently created for a

specific purpose/market – and often lateral markets or revenue streams are difficult to appreciate. With

an innovator’s increasing specialization comes magnified focus but blunted perspective. This contributes

to the fact that >90% of patents lie idle, be their provenance from academia or the private sector.

Marblar is here to re-establish perspective, and allow value creation to catch up with modern

innovation.

How it works

Marblar’s proposition is simple: We post emerging or existing technology onto our platform and seek

diverse perspectives on how it can be applied – finding new revenue streams via novel exploitation

paths.

Technology is posted onto Marblar.com in the form of a challenge. Registered users (Marblars) then

work towards finding novel ways to exploit the inventor’s discovery – they are rewarded with online

medallions (marbles), points, and even cash prizes. Marblars are allowed to collaborate & build upon

each others’ ideas, vote on favorite entries, and earn rewards just for participating. It is a radically

disruptive approach to innovation: gamified tech transfer. In the process Marblar facilitates community

building and an ongoing conversation between inventors and creative minds the world over.

Main Target Audience:

Scientists from across life/chemical/computing/physical/engineering disciplines aged 20-40yo.

Beta Results:

Marblar conducted a small beta with DNA Click technology from the University of Southampton (Prof

Tom Brown). We found several novel applications for Prof Brown’s discovery, and the funders (IP Group

plc) are considering two spin-out opportunities around the 1st and 2nd place entries. Moreover, the two

winners were students from Cambridge University – demonstrating the value of younger innovators’

input, and the potential of welcoming minds from different campuses into that conversation.