The purpose of this paper is to analyse howdifferent types of control are applied in different mechanisms for commercialisingscience, according to the inter-organisational interactions involved. To achievethis purpose, we followed a multiple-case study design and selected four casesfrom Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institutet that provided variationin the commercialisation mechanisms (PET Centre, Ångström Materials Academy,Actar, and Karolinska Development). We find that action and resultcontrols dominate in linear ‘spin-out’ funnel mechanisms, while interactive mechanismsentail a combination of action, result and personalcontrols. However, the inter-organisational interactions also impact whichcontrols are applied in a commercialisation mechanism: conflicting goals between a few closely related organisations or limited external interactions are associated with result controls, whileaction controls dominate in the absence of external interactions if timeand efficiency are key goals. Result controls also assume very different roles, depending on the inter-organisational context of a specific commercialisation mechanism.