Outsourced Technology Transfer Office
OTTOTM
Whether you have 1,000 students or 100,000, MARATTO™ becomes your institution's fully co-branded TTO. IP management, commercialisation, and spinout support, handled end-to-end.
The Problem
A functional TTO costs upwards of $200,000 per year. Most African universities cannot justify that investment.
A Technology Transfer Office requires, at minimum, five specialist roles: a Head of Technology Transfer, IP and legal counsel, a commercialisation manager, a funding and investment officer, and compliance and administration support. In practice, established TTOs like Stellenbosch University's Innovus employ seven or more staff.
Beyond salaries, professional TTO training costs upwards of $1,500 per person for introductory courses alone.
The research exists. It is not being protected and commercialised at the rate it deserves. OTTO™ was built to change that.
The Methodology
Six phases. One methodology. Your institution's research, commercialised.
Assess
Audit the research portfolio for commercial viability using the CORE Score™ (Commercialisation Opportunity Readiness Evaluation).
Protect
File patents (where applicable), trademarks, and IP protections via ARIPO and OAPI.
Structure
Design commercial vehicles, licensing models, and revenue structures.
Connect
Match research to industry partners and markets.
Fund
Identify grant, venture, and institutional funding pathways.
Launch
Take products and services to market domestically and, where applicable, across AfCFTA.
The OTTO™ Methodology is MARATTO™'s proprietary framework, built from First Commercialisation Principles and refined through real engagements with African universities. Each phase is mapped to a specialist Fractional Domain Expert matched by discipline, geography, and need.
Outcomes
Full TTO capability from day one
A co-branded TTO.
MARATTO™ operates as your institution's outsourced Technology Transfer Office, fully co-branded with your university identity.
IP protection.
Patents, trademarks, and IP protections filed via ARIPO (anglophone Africa) and OAPI (francophone Africa).
Commercialisation pipeline.
Research assessed, structured, and taken to market through a systematic methodology.
On-demand expertise.
Access to 28 Fractional Domain Experts across 10 countries without hiring a single full-time specialist.
Revenue generation.
Licensing deals, spinout ventures, and industry partnerships that generate income for the institution.
Institutional knowledge.
Every engagement builds the university's internal understanding of commercialisation, creating long-term institutional capacity.
The Network
Delivered by practitioners, not consultants
Every cohort and engagement is supported by MARATTO™'s network of 28 Fractional Domain Experts spanning 10 countries across the African continent and diaspora.
28 Domain Experts
Each FDE brings direct operational experience in commercialisation, IP, investment readiness, ecosystem development, and related disciplines.
10 Countries
Spanning the African continent and diaspora. FDEs are matched to cohorts and engagements by discipline, geography, and need.
Practitioner-Led
MBAs, PhDs, and industry practitioners who have built, funded, and scaled ventures. Not theorists. Not generalists. Specialists.
Pricing
A fraction of the cost of building internally
OTTO™ engagements are structured as multi-year partnerships, giving universities full TTO capability without the capital expenditure of building one from scratch. Pricing is custom to each institution, based on research portfolio size, disciplines, and commercialisation goals.
Custom pricing for your institution
A fraction of the $200,000+ it costs to build a TTO internally.
Workshops
Not ready for a full engagement? Start with a workshop.
MARATTO™ offers standalone commercialisation workshops for universities looking to build internal awareness and capability before committing to a full OTTO™ engagement. Topics include: introduction to technology transfer, IP fundamentals for researchers, commercialisation readiness assessment, and building an innovation culture.
From $2,000 per workshop
Enquire about workshopsReady to give your institution TTO capability?
Book a discovery call to discuss how OTTO™ can work for your university. Or email phin@maratto.africa to start the conversation.
Looking for a lighter starting point?
VENTURA™ is MARATTO™'s 12-week incubation and accelerator programme delivered to universities as a service. It is often the entry point for a university relationship: it builds trust, creates internal champions, and opens the door to OTTO™. From $2,000 per cohort.
Learn more about VENTURA™