Affiliate companies are not formed around intellectual property licensed by UBC, but emerge instead through market pull and the entrepreneurial zeal of students, faculty, staff and recent alumni.

This may be a result of faculty exploring interests and applying their expertise outside of their direct UBC activities, students unearthing a business idea in undergraduate coursework or extracurricular activities, or graduate students being inspired by their research activities or peers to explore business opportunities that may be tangential or totally unrelated to their thesis studies.

Through entrepreneurship@UBC, and its programs such as the UILO Start-up Services Voucher, the University is becoming increasingly aware of these affiliate companies.