A new company plans to use millions of dollars it hopes to obtain from foreign investors to help Idaho institutions and industries start new companies and commercialize their intellectual property.

The Idaho Department of Commerce is backing the enterprise, helping it negotiate with the Homeland Security Department and using its trade representatives to identify potential investors in China, Mexico and other countries.

The company expects foreign investment under a federal immigration program that grants foreigners visas in exchange for investing at least $500,000 in U.S. businesses. The program offers foreigners permanent U.S. residency, or a green card, in exchange for helping create U.S. jobs.

State officials hope I-Cubed, short for Invest Idaho Innovations LLC, will become a central clearinghouse for Idaho's untapped intellectual wealth.

"We've been looking at tech-transfer and commercialization for the better part of 20 years," said Brian Dickens, administrator of Idaho Department of Commerce's Commercial Innovation Division.

Chief executive Miles Mahoney, 40, said I-Cubed will fill gaps in resources and expertise for agencies already involved in fostering the transfer of technological innovations to the marketplace.

Until recently, Mahoney was vice president and general manager of global alliances and channels at SAS Institute Inc., a North Carolina company that sells business-analysis software. While there, he established distribution hubs in China, India, Russia and Singapore.

"I want to create a system that stops intellectual property in Idaho from being shelved, and starts raising capital and investing to create new companies and new jobs in the state," Mahoney said. "We will be a partner that helps public research institutions and private companies monetize their innovations."

I-Cubed is so new and so early in the development process that no one contacted by the Idaho Statesman felt comfortable commenting on its prospects.

Mark Rudin, vice president for research at Boise State University, said he believes Mahoney is bringing expertise to the table, and there will be opportunities to use his services.

"If we ever struggle finding a place for a piece of IP (intellectual property), we would certainly look into having I-Cubed help us out," he said.

Now Mahoney is a consultant in Boise, advising software startups. He is using experience garnered at SAS - the product of a North Carolina State University researcher - to build an investment and business services firm that he hopes will create several new companies a year by leveraging innovations produced at public institutions.

He is soliciting Idaho investors and intends to be capitalized with $5 million in the next 120 days. With the help of the Idaho Department of Commerce, he hopes to secure $25 million to $70 million from foreign investors, who would be funneled to Idaho through the federal EB-5 immigrant visa program.

He plans to establish a $25 million venture fund focused on seed investing for tech-transfer from universities and labs and will help commercialize ideas and intellectual property from both the public and private sectors.

"We'll focus our efforts on renewable energy, recreational technology, agricultural technology and high technology (software and hardware)," Mahoney said.

The investment-fund money will take advantage of a federal law that authorizes 10,000 visas to foreign investors every year. In exchange, they commit at least $500,000 to invest in rural or high-unemployment areas and $1 million in urban areas for at least two years. The businesses they create must employ a minimum of 10 people for the same two years.

Before Mahoney can tap into immigrant wealth, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security must first designate a "regional center" in Idaho under the EB-5 program. Dickens believes the center will be approved within 14 months.

Vermont has an EB-5 regional center that it uses to help finance ski resorts.

Dickens said the Commerce Department's trade representatives in foreign countries say they can attract $30 million to $70 million in EB-5 investment to Idaho each year.

FUNDING HAMPERS PUBLIC TECH-TRANSFER EFFORTS

Past tech-transfer initiatives have had limited success. All three state universities have tech-transfer departments, and Techconnect, funded by the state commerce department almost four years ago, is good at building relationships but short on capital.

"The problem with public entities or private nonprofit models like TechConnect is a lack of funding and the need to go back to the Legislature every year for more, which doesn't breed consistency - they've gotten less and less money every year," Dickens said. "We came to the conclusion that a private for-profit company would have capital so they won't have to go to rely on the Legislature."

I-Cubed plans to operate three divisions:

The Invest Idaho Innovation Fund, a source of seed money and venture capital for new and growing companies. The fund also will pursue real estate investments connected to expansion of existing companies or resort projects.

The Idaho Tech-Transfer and Commercialization Clearinghouse to shepherd bright ideas out of labs and garages and into the marketplace, spurring new business. I-Cubed also would act as a broker of tech-transfer, licensing, legal services and collaborative research opportunities for institutional and industrial clients.

The clearinghouse will employ a sales and marketing team to market Idaho technology globally. Most licensing revenues would be returned to the source company or institution.

An EB-5 regional center, which will market investment opportunities to foreign investors.

He envisions multiple revenue sources for I-Cubed, including selling intellectual property and taking a percentage, negotiating royalty agreements with public partners, buying ownership stakes in companies it funds, and charging a percentage for managing the investment fund.

Mahoney has had preliminary discussions with all three state universities and the national laboratory, all of which have their own commercialization departments.

"Miles is offering a suite of services that they can choose from," Dickens said. "They can pick sales and marketing, or IP licensing. It's an opportunity for them to outsource these functions to a purely local, Idaho company."

Boise State University just opened its Office of Technology Transfer within its Division of Research last week and named Mary Givens its director.

"Their business model appears to supplement efforts that are already under way here and other places," Givens said. "Once it is up and running, Boise State will look for ways we can work together."

Brad Talbutt: 672-6737