Photo by Jeff Miller/UW-Madison

In conjunction with its recent launch of D2P (Discovery to Product), the University of Wisconsin announced recently the creation of the Advocacy Consortium for Entrepreneurs, tasked with increasing the number and success rate of startup ventures from the university.

UW Emeritus Professor of Medical Physics, Human Oncology and Engineering Physics Rock Mackie leads the venture, which was established as an independent, nonprofit organization that can lobby and advocate for campus, state and federal policies that support entrepreneurial development, according to a release.

D2P, meanwhile, is funded by both UW and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and one of its key goals is to expand faculty and student access to critical technology commercialization resources, including investment capital.

“(ACE) embraces a campus-wide view of entrepreneurship, which may be one of the great unifying principles across campus,” Mackie said in a statement. “We ultimately want to create a point person for entrepreneurship in every department.”

Other ACE goals include developing an inventory of faculty, staff and post-doctoral entrepreneurs from campus; helping create a cross-campus entrepreneurship curriculum; and advocating for condo space for campus-generated business activities.