Innovation in Boiler Nation: Purdue Innovates Launches Successful Indiana Business Startups

Co-founders Evan Rocheford and his father, Torbert, started NutraMaize to emphasize the benefits of Orange Corn in the U.S., marketed under the Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn brand name. Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

Ranked as a Top 10 Most Innovative University in America for the last five years by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue is the only university listed among the world’s top 50 most innovative companies or nonprofits. It also is ranked fifth in the world among universities for the number of U.S. utility patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with a total of 192 patents as of 2022.

Previously known as Purdue Foundry, which launched in 2013 as the Purdue Research Foundation (PRF), it served as a hub for Purdue entrepreneurs to take their ideas from dream to reality. Since the creation of Purdue Foundry, PRF has helped launch more than 370 startups, bringing in $877 million in funds alongside them.

Advertisement

With the creation of the new Purdue Innovates taking the place of Purdue Foundry, PRF and Purdue University can utilize the notoriety and innovation of Purdue’s faculty and staff, providing one overarching ecosystem streamlining resources and access to both intellectual property and startup support.

“Under the new unified initiative, Purdue Innovates, the former Foundry functions are spread across the Incubator, Startup Foundry and Ventures in order to create specialized teams that can assist a startup wherever they may be on their journey,” says Brooke Beier, senior vice president of Purdue Innovates. “The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) is the fourth unit in Purdue Innovates and remains the university’s IP and licensing unit.”

The OTC currently enters into more than 150 license and option agreements, containing over 200 Purdue technologies, with industry and startups each year.

See more: Hideout 125 Dishes Up Modern Fare with Old-Fashioned Flair

Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

Startup Success

Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

One such successful startup, initially launched with assistance from the Purdue Foundry, is NutraMaize, which markets its products under the brand name Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn. NutraMaize was co-founded in 2015 by Evan Rocheford and his father, Torbert – a Purdue professor of agronomy – to bring the benefits of Orange Corn to the United States.

Torbert began working on Orange Corn, alongside a group of international scientists, in the mid-1990s to naturally select corn varieties with increased levels of beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A. Orange Corn was developed to help alleviate vitamin A deficiencies in countries where corn is a culinary staple and vitamin A intake is inadequate.

“Torbert is the grandfather of Orange Corn,” Evan says. “He is the one who originally started working on it and the real force behind getting the concept off the ground.”

It only makes sense that the Rochefords turned to Purdue Foundry when they were looking to bring Orange Corn to the U.S. Evan credits the Foundry with helping them think through their potential markets and business plan, as well as secure funding.

“The Foundry sponsored a technical grant consultant to help us submit our first Small Business Innovation Research grant proposal,” he says. “That’s a very complicated process, and it’s one that would have been very daunting if we hadn’t had that support. We went on to win that grant and a second grant. So, we went from being an idea to having over $400,000 in funding very quickly. Since then, we’ve gone on to win another $2 million.”

Orange Corn is grown in more than 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and is now available to Americans through NutraMaize’s line of premium milled products, including grits, cornmeal and corn flour – marketed under Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn.

See more: Budding Hemp Industry Provides Challenges and Successes for Farmers

Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

Innovation Prospers

Purdue Innovates’ current streamlined system allows for an increase in resources, teams, programs and funding to support startups. Another significant change is the broadening of the definition of clients to include alumni.

Brooke Beier; Photo credit: Purdue Research Foundation photo/Charles Jischke

“We will be here to assist in that journey, whether they choose to embark on it as a Purdue student, faculty member or later in their career as an alum,” Beier says.

Evan’s success under the guidance of Purdue Foundry has permeated beyond the scope of simply taking Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn from idea to impact.

“I think the support Purdue Innovates provides is crucial for startups like NutraMaize,” Evan says. “In fact, I’m so passionate about its importance that I now serve as an entrepreneur-in-residence with Purdue Innovates, lending my expertise in grant writing to help other startups attract crucial early-stage funding through the Small Business Innovation Research grant program.”

Through Purdue Innovates, alumni and fellow founders lend their expertise to continue helping innovation prosper.

“Boilermakers are some of the most loyal and entrepreneurial-minded alumni, and Purdue Innovates welcomes the opportunity to engage and discuss how it can assist with the mission to make Purdue the most preeminent university for technology commercialization and startup creation,” Beier says.

See more: Hydroponic Farming Takes Root in Indiana