Whiteboard 2 Boardroom—a UMKC-based program that helps entrepreneurs commercialize local research—has helped facilitate 29 new startups, which have gone on to create 97 jobs and raise $15.9 in follow-on funding since 2012, according to the organization’s new annual report.

One of the program’s biggest successes is EyeVerify, which was sold this year to Ant Financial, an affiliate of China’s Alibaba. Whiteboard 2 Boardroom introduced founder Toby Rush to UMKC’s Reza Derakhshani and the other professors whose research forms the basis of EyeVerify’s solution.

Whiteboard 2 Boardroom also offers the Tech Alert System, a subscription-based service that alerts local companies to licensable research developed at MRI Global, Children’s Mercy Hospital, the University of Kansas and other institutions. More than 400 innovations are available for licensing in a typical year.

The Black & Veatch Growth Accelerator recently became a subscriber to the Tech Alert System, which charges a modest annual fee. (Military veterans can sign up for free.)

“The Black & Veatch Growth Accelerator is proud to partner with Whiteboard 2 Boardroom,” said Laura Adams, founding team member of the growth accelerator. “The W2B Tech Alert system provides relevant information, connecting our team to new opportunities and innovative technologies. Our team identifies and incubates new business initiatives at Black & Veatch, and we are driving an entrepreneurial mind-set to deliver viable solutions globally.”

Whiteboard 2 Boardroom also has partnered with the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the UMKC Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the UMKC School of Law to develop a program that helps medical researchers to become entrepreneurs themselves.

For more information about Whiteboard 2 Boardroom, visit the program’s official website.