Ascenion GmbH is a Technology Transfer and intellectual property management company with a major focus in life sciences (http://www.ascenion.de). Ascenion advises and supports public research institutions with regard to the protection and exploitation of their intellectual property (patents, knowledge, materials), and mediates license agreements between research institutions and industry. It is also coaching company founders and young spin-offs and is holding equity in 29 start-ups. Ascenion was founded in 2001 as a 100% subsidiary of the Life Science Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Research and has since acquired 30 research institutes in the Helmholtz and Leibniz Associations, together with the Charité, Hanover Medical School, Medical University of Innsbruck and the research institute Twincore as exclusive partners. Ascenion currently markets around 860 technologies on behalf of these institutes and closes an average of 50 agreements between research and industry per year.