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The purpse of this study is to examine sustainable technology development (STD) during the “Valley of Death” phase encountered by university startups undertaking intellectual property rights (IPR) commercialisation.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted after searching for relevant documents across multiple databases. Semi-structured interviews with university startup founders were also conducted as part of a qualitative case study.

This study resulted in two significant findings. First, the Valley of Death has been redefined in the specific context of IPR commercialisation by university startups. Second, the sustainable technology development framework (STDF) has been conceptualised to enhance the success rate of IPR commercialisation by university startups. The authors also identified three essential components of STD in the context of university startups: market development, technical efficiency and business sustainability.

This exploratory research involved a thorough literature analysis. Given that only one qualitative case study was conducted, data saturation was not achieved. Further empirical research is needed to validate the conceptualised STDF.

The validated STDF will be a useful tool for enhancing the success of IPR commercialisation by university startups.

While others have focused on innovating business models, this study focused on an underexplored area: the sustainability of technology development during the commercialisation of IPR by university startups during the Valley of Death phase.