Programs & Services
UT Software Marketplace
A faster path from research code to revenue, supported by Discovery to Impact.
Open to UT faculty, researchers, postdocs, graduate students, and affiliated creators.
WHY THIS EXISTS
SOFTWARE
COMMERCIALIZATION
HAS CHANGED
You keep building the software. UT helps clear the path to real users.
Many of today’s most valuable university technologies are not traditional inventions waiting for a patent license. They are web apps, software tools, data products, dashboards, research platforms, mobile applications, and SaaS workflows that need hosting, access control, billing, technical support, and ongoing operational support.
For many creators, the old options are too limited:
- Open source the code and hope users adopt it
- Form a startup before the market is validated
- Hand the software to a company and give up too much value too early
- Let promising research software sit unused because the launch path is unclear
A REAL PARTNER FOR UT SOFTWARE CREATORS
A MODERN MODEL FOR UNIVERSITY SOFTWARE COMMERCIALIZATION
The UT Software Marketplace reflects a broader shift in technology transfer. University software increasingly needs more than a license template. It needs launch infrastructure, hosted access, billing mechanisms, technical support, payment handling, revenue distributions, and a commercialization model that can support both academic creators and real-world users.
This model is designed to help software move from disclosure to deployment with less friction, while creating more pathways for impact, revenue, startup formation, and industry adoption.
01 Beyond Patent Licensing
University software often creates value through access, hosting, workflows, data, and continuous improvement.
02 Built for SaaS and Apps
A practical pathway for SaaS tools, dashboards, cloud-hosted software, mobile applications, models, web apps, and hosted research platforms.
03 More Faculty Engagement
A clearer software pathway gives researchers a reason to disclose earlier and work through Discovery to Impact.
04 Market Validation First
Software can reach users and generate evidence of demand before a full startup path is required.
FOR CREATORS
WHY THIS IS A SUPERPOWER FOR SOFTWARE CREATORS
Most technical creators can ship code. The hard part is launching responsibly: customer access, terms, payments, hosting decisions, institutional review, and a commercialization path that does not force you to start a company before the market is ready.
Launch without becoming a company overnight
You may not know yet whether your app is a startup, a research tool, a licensed product, or a hosted service. The Marketplace gives you a way to test real demand before committing to the full startup path.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
More optionality. Less premature company-building.
Get help with the non-code work
Once outside users want access, the work expands beyond GitHub and cloud deployment. Customer terms, payment handling, revenue distributions, access workflows, and institutional questions can slow down even strong technical teams.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
You keep improving the product while UT helps with the launch path.
Make it easier for serious users to say yes
Hospitals, companies, agencies, and research groups often need more than a demo link. They need a credible way to evaluate, access, pay for, and use software built at UT.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
A more professional front door for pilots, customers, and partners.
Instead of choosing too early…
OPEN SOURCE ONLY
Great for visibility, but limited for support, payments, and value capture.
SELF-HOSTED SIDE HUSTLE
Fast to start, but you own every legal, billing, support, and access problem.
UT SOFTWARE MARKETPLACE
A middle path for hosted access, customer readiness, revenue distribution, and startup optionality.
KEEP BUILDING. REACH USERS FASTER.
You do not have to choose between giving your software away, prematurely forming a startup, or letting it sit unused. The UT Software Marketplace is designed for creators who want to get their software into the hands of real users while staying focused on research, development, and impact.
✓ Launch with a smaller team
✓ Preserve more value for the people creating the software
✓ Support confidential or sensitive workflows where code release is not ideal
✓ Validate customer demand before committing to a startup path
✓ Reach customers before building a full company
✓ Keep research software accessible in a professional hosted environment
✓ Create a pathway for SaaS, DaaS, MaaS, mobile cloud computing, web app, or software licensing
✓ Work through UT-approved commercialization channels
Built Something? Tell us about it.
A two minute email. No disclosure needed to ask.
WHAT THE MARKETPLACE DOES
A LAUNCH PATH FOR RESEARCH SOFTWARE
Most technical creators can ship code. The hard part is launching responsibly: customer access, terms, payments, hosting decisions, institutional review, and a commercialization path that does not force you to start a company before the market is ready.
Software Hosting
UT cloud DevOps engineers will ready your software for hosting so that you can reach end users directly.
Licensing & Customer Readiness
Support practical SaaS-style licensing, customer access, billing coordination, and commercialization workflows designed for software products.
UT-Supported Infrastructure
Coordinate with UT technology and administrative resources to support cloud hosting, security, invoicing, and operational needs where appropriate.
FROM CODE TO CUSTOMERS
01
Tell us what you built
Submit your software, web app, model, dashboard, or platform for initial review.
02
Evaluate fit and readiness
Discovery to Impact reviews ownership, licensing path, customer use case, technical readiness, and launch options.
03
Choose a commercialization path
We help determine whether the best path is hosted SaaS access, a startup license, a pilot customer, an internal UT launch, or another model.
04
Prepare for launch
Coordinate licensing, customer terms, hosting needs, billing, security, support, and administrative workflows.
05
Reach users
Launch to early customers, collaborators, departments, companies, or other users and learn from real adoption.
COMMERCIALIZATION MODELS
TWO FLEXIBLE PATHS
PATH A
UT Acts as Your Startup
BEST FOR
Software that can be offered directly to users, companies, research groups, hospitals, schools, agencies, or other customers.
HOW IT WORKS
- UT software is made available to end users through UT cloud hosting or, for desktop tools, secure download.
- Users access the software without needing to receive or manage source code.
- Discovery to Impact handles EULAs, payment, tech support, and revenue distributions to creators.
- Creators can stay focused on the software and research.
PATH B
Your Own Startup
BEST FOR
Software that may become the basis of a new company but needs infrastructure, validation, early customers, or a lighter path before scaling.
HOW IT WORKS
- A PI-led or creator-led startup may license the software from UT.
- The Marketplace can support hosted deployment and operational coordination where appropriate.
- The startup can test demand and build traction without immediately recreating every back-office function.
- The model can support future fundraising, partnerships, or broader commercialization.
BUILT FOR THE SOFTWARE UT IS CREATING NOW
SaaS platforms
Desktop as a Service tools
Model as a Service tools
Web applications
Mobile applications
Mobile cloud computing tools
Machine learning models
Data dashboards
Research workflow tools
Decision-support software
Education & training platforms
Backend software services
Tools using sensitive or regulated data
Not every software project will be a fit. Discovery to Impact will help evaluate readiness, licensing path, hosting needs, technical support requirements, and customer potential.
WHY NOT JUST OPEN SOURCE OR START A COMPANY?
A PRACTICAL MIDDLE PATH
OPEN SOURCE ALONE
Great for visibility and collaboration, but it may not provide hosting, support, billing, payment handling, revenue distributions, or direct value capture.
TRADITIONAL STARTUP
Powerful when the market and team are ready, but many software projects need user validation, infrastructure, and early revenue before a full startup path makes sense.
UT SOFTWARE MARKETPLACE
A launch pathway for your software to reach end users, with support from UT cloud DevOps engineers, UT-managed cloud hosting services, and UT-managed payment and revenue distributions. UT support leaves you free to continue building and researching.
WE HANDLE DISTRIBUTION AND THE BACK OFFICE. YOU KEEP BUILDING.
Distribution
We get your software to users. Hosted access through UT cloud services, or secure download for desktop tools.
Back Office
We run the parts that aren’t code: end-user licenses, invoicing, payment processing, user provisioning, and tech support.
Institutional Cover
We coordinate security review, IP review, and the UT approvals that let hospitals, companies, and agencies say yes.
Revenue back to you
Users pay UT. UT pays creators under the terms in your agreement. No lock-in: move to a startup, an industry license, or your own infrastructure at any time.
INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
SUPPORTED BY UT AUSTIN ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY
Discovery to Impact works with UT Austin Enterprise Technology to support professional cloud-hosted software pathways. The Marketplace is built to work with apps hosted on Forge, UT’s enterprise platform for building and hosting apps. UT cloud DevOps engineers help evaluate hosting needs, prepare software for deployment, and select the right cloud configuration for your workload and expected use.
Professional Hosting Pathways
Support for hosted software, SaaS tools, web apps, and research platforms that need more than a simple code transfer.
Right-Sized Cloud Options
Cloud compute configurations can be selected based on the software’s workload, user demand, and operational needs.
UT-Aligned Support
Discovery to Impact and Enterprise Technology coordinate to help software creators move toward launch through appropriate UT-approved channels.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
BUILT SOFTWARE? LET US HELP YOU LAUNCH IT INTO THE WORLD.
Whether you have a working SaaS tool, model, web app, dashboard, mobile application, or early software concept, Discovery to Impact can help you explore the right path from campus project to end-user access.