The results of scientific research can often bring considerable societal and economic benefits. But the path from the lab bench to a real-world application can take years, even for projects that are designed from the outset with a concrete use in mind. For instance, it took seven years for the pipetting robot developed by EPFL spin-off SEED Biosciences to reach the market, which it did in 2020. "Our robot lets scientists dispense cells one by one," says Eric Meurville, a SEED Biosciences co-founder who now works at EPFL's Technology Transfer Office. "The technology isn't really all that complicated, but it still took a long time to turn the idea we came up with in the lab into a commercial product."