The government of Cyprus has updated its framework on spinouts emerging from public universities, enabling academics to take a larger stake in businesses, according to local paper Philenews.
The original framework, enacted in 2018, reportedly failed to generate a single spinoff company because it severely limited the stake a founding academic could own.
The updated rules enable the academic and the university to own a combined 49% in any spinout company, with the exact breakdown negotiated between the two parties. Previously, academics could only own 24%.
The remaining equity is available for other stakeholders and inventors, such as postdoc students.
The framework now also clarifies that academics can own shares in spinouts without taking on executive roles or receiving a salary, while also outlining that academics can be active both at the university and the spinout.
Additionally, the rules now provide a clear distinction between the activities of the university and the spinout, with the latter able to negotiate the use of university infrastructure at market rates.
The updated framework was developed together with all relevant stakeholders, and an unnamed tech transfer expert from the UK.
The majority of Cypriot higher education institutions are private, with only the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus University of Technology, the Open University of Cyprus, the European University of Lefke, and the Eastern Mediterranean University operating as public institutions.
