CWRU tech transfer VP Coticchia resigns, plans to start new company

Case Western Reserve University's top technology transfer official is resigning from the university to start a new technology transfer and venture development consulting firm. Mark Coticchia's resignation is effective April 1. He joined Case in 2001.

Case Western Reserve University‘s top technology transfer official is resigning from the university to start a new technology transfer and venture development consulting firm.

Mark Coticchia‘s resignation is effective April 1. He joined Case in 2001, according to a statement from the Cleveland, Ohio, university.

“I’m an entrepreneur at heart and I love to launch businesses and build things,” Coticchia said in a phone interview.

Coticchia’s responsibilities at Case extended beyond tech transfer to research administration and economic development.

During Coticchia’s time with Case, the university created 29 spinoff companies that have attracted more than $200 million in venture capital. 2009, in particular, was a highlight for Case’s tech transfer office, which generated more than $16 million in licensing revenues during the year.

“In the past 10 years, we’ve had a hell of a run,” Coticchia said.

Other highlights include 161 patents issued during Coticchia’s tenure and more than 20 products based on Case technology that entered the market.

“Over the past decade, Mark built our technology transfer office into an operation renowned nationally for its success,” said Case President Barbara Snyder. “I am grateful for his extraordinary contributions, and wish him all the best in his next professional venture.”

Coticchia’s new company is called RedWind Innovations, and he plans to open offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. In addition to helping universities and hospitals implement tech transfer programs, Coticchia plans to develop intellectual property management software that the company will sell.

The company will also help develop business incubators and put together groups of investors to fund specific deals. “It’s a pretty wide range of services,” Coticchia said in an understatement.

In the beginning, Coticchia will fund the company himself. “I have a book of business identified and I’m going to be able to bootstrap this, at least initially,” he said. “I may need to bring in some growth capital down the line.”

Before coming to Case, Coticchia was a senior director in Pittsburgh at Redleaf Group, an early stage venture capital firm. He’s credited with expanding and organizing Case’s tech transfer office, connecting it with independent economic development groups, and making it more prominent on and off campus.

Companies that the tech transfer office has helped create include: regenerative medicine firm Arteriocyte, heart-mapping technology maker CardioInsight Technologies and chronic-pain device developer Neuros Medical.

Coticchia said CardioInsight is the spinoff he’s most proud of, because launching the company was “such a community effort,” which included contributions from Cleveland economic development groups JumpStart and BioEnterprise and funding from Pittsburgh-based venture group Draper Triangle Ventures.

Case’s statement made no reference to a successor for Coticchia, or even a search for one.  One candidate could be Joe Jankowski, a veteran of Case’s tech transfer program who holds the title of associate vice president of technology management. Coticchia said he didn’t want to speculate on a successor.

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