Assessing the impact of the pandemic on digital spin‐offs at universities: Theory and evidence from the United Kingdom

Abstract

Research Summary There is limited evidence on how university spin‐offs (USOs) respond to external crises. We fill this gap by assessing how UK digital USOs responded to the recent COVID‐19 pandemic. Specifically, we examine how USOs' capabilities (scaling‐up, fundraising, and intellectual property) and access to their parent university's financial resources/infrastructures interact intertemporally to address demand and supply challenges associated with the pandemic. Our analysis revealed that the interplay of (a) USOs' scaling‐up and fundraising capabilities and (b) USOs' fundraising capabilities and university parent's support infrastructure constituted the best strategy for developing intertemporal resilience during the crisis. Managerial Summary We investigate the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on digital USOs. Assuming support from parent universities, we explored how their scaling‐up efforts, fundraising efforts, and intellectual property addressed demand and supply challenges during these unprecedented times. First, USOs that could scale up while fundraising were more likely to sustain operations and satisfy demand through various stages of the pandemic. Second, USOs with fundraising capabilities and parent university support demonstrated greater resilience. These findings suggest valuable insights for CEOs of USOs and their parent universities in handling external crises.