The Launch of Laudable Open Innovation Network

In a world of widely distributed knowledge, companies cannot afford to rely entirely on their own research, hence the need to source other options outside their own realizing that the best use of internal and external ideas is a winning game.
TekScout is an Open Innovation Network which helps companies finds Experts to solve their most comples R&D challenges.

Press Release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UTEK Corporation Launches TekScout™ Open Innovation Sourcing Service
Tampa, FL -- (Business Wire) – March 3, 2008 -- UTEK Corporation (AMEX & LSE-AIM: UTK), a
leading Open Innovation services company, today announced the launch of its TekScout™ Open
Innovation Network.
TekScout helps companies look outside of their internal R&D department to better address the
challenge of completing complex development projects. The TekScout Open Innovation Network
enables companies to post complex development projects, along with a reward and timeline
required to solve the problem, in a secure environment. A worldwide network of qualified
scientists and engineers can view these challenges and earn rewards for providing unique
solutions.
A 2006 Harvard Business School Study entitled The Value of Openness in Scientific Problem
Solving, by Lakhani, Jeppenson, Lohse, and Panetta, found that presenting scientific problems to
the outside community enabled several large R&D intensive firms to solve over one third of the
problems that they had been unable to resolve internally. The study also found that the most
successful solutions came from experts that are at the boundary, or outside of their specific fields
of interest, indicating the importance of reaching outside of your organization to successfully
innovate.
“UTEK has a unique capability to bring companies (TekScouts) and scientists (TekExperts)
together, based on our deep-seated relationships with hundreds of companies and relationships
with over 2,000 academic institutions around the world,” stated Edward Weisberg, VP and
General Manager of TekScout. “We are able to leverage these existing relationships to help
ensure that we have the best and the brightest scientists available for companies that are looking
for serious solutions to their challenges. TekScout also helps qualified scientists and engineers
find R&D challenges that utilize their problem solving capabilities while providing a financial and
intellectual reward for winning solutions.”
TekScout challenges will be focused in the disciplines of Life Science, Physical Science,
Chemistry, Engineering and Design, Math and Computer Science, and Alternative Energy and
Sustainable Products.
“Over the past ten years UTEK has built a global reputation for sourcing technologies for our
clients. Now, in addition to providing technology sourcing, strategic consulting and patent
analytics, we offer clients the ability to outsource their development challenges to bring products
to market faster and more cost effectively with a comprehensive Open Innovation program,”
added Clifford M. Gross, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of UTEK. “We believe that our goal of
becoming the world’s first turn-key provider of Open Innovation services is further enhanced with
the launch of TekScout.”
The TekScout Open Innovation Network can be viewed at www.tekscout.com.
About UTEK Corporation
UTEK
®
is a leading Open Innovation service company. UTEK’s services enable clients to become
stronger innovators, rapidly source externally developed technologies and create value from their
intellectual property. UTEK is a business development company with operations in the United
States, United Kingdom, Israel and Portugal. For more information about UTEK, please visit its
website at www.utekcorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements.” These forwardlooking
statements can generally be identified as such because the context of the statement will
include words, such as UTEK "expects," "should," "believes," "anticipates" or words of similar
import. Similarly, statements that describe UTEK's future plans, objectives or goals are also
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties, including the financial performance of UTEK, and the valuation of UTEK's
investment portfolio, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently
anticipated. Although UTEK believes the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements
are based on reasonable assumptions, it cannot give any assurance that its expectations will be
attained. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to
consider these factors carefully in evaluating any forward-looking statements. Certain factors
could cause results and conditions to differ materially from those projected in these forwardlooking
statements, and some of these factors are discussed below. These factors are not
exhaustive. New factors, risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time that may affect the
forward-looking statements made herein. These forward-looking statements are only made as of
the date of this press release and UTEK does not undertake any obligation to publicly update
such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
UTEK's operating results could fluctuate significantly due to a number of factors. These factors
include the small number of transactions that are completed each quarter, the value of individual
transactions, the timing of the recognition and the magnitude of unrealized and realized gains and
losses of companies in its portfolio, UTEK's dependence on the performance of companies in its
portfolio, the possibility that advances in technology could render the technologies it has
transferred obsolete, the loss of technology licenses by companies in its portfolio, the degree to
which it encounters competition in its markets, the volatility of the stock market and the volatility of
the valuations of the companies it has invested in as it relates to its realized and unrealized gains
and losses, the concentration of investments in a small number of companies, as well as other
general economic conditions. As a result of these and other factors, current results may not be
indicative of UTEK's future performance. For more information on UTEK and for a more complete
discussion of the risks pertaining to an investment in UTEK, please refer to UTEK's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contacts:
UTEK Corporation
USA:
Tania Bernier
813-754-4330 x 223
UK:
Bankside Consultants