Novaled AG, a spin-out of a university and a Fraunhofer institute, sees itself as a leader in the research, development and commercialization of technologies and materials that enhance the performance of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

Core competencies of Novaled cover a unique combination of organic conductivity doping technology, proprietary materials and OLED stack development expertise.

The foundation and very successful development process of Novaled as an internationally operating multi-disciplinary RBSU (research-based startup) has a number of special situations and approaches to the entrepreneurship process from the beginning.

The case shows how a successful university research project was used to build a business associated with urgency of further development, cooperative development projects (“networking”) and rather large capital requirements (provided by venture capital – VC).

Novaled offers to OLED display and lighting manufacturers customized solutions to optimize the performance, power efficiency, stability and lifetime of their products while decreasing their manufacturing complexity and cost.

Novaled’s success for the founders and the investors is reflected by Novaled having been purchased for €260 million ($347 million) by the Korean firm Samsung in 2013.