Government backs university spinouts with new funding

Science Minister, Lord Vallance. Photo: gov.uk

Four innovative hubs across Merseyside, East Anglia, the Midlands, and Northeast England will today get £30 million of fresh backing to grow more ‘spin outs’, innovative new businesses created from within research institutions. UK innovators have made great strides in getting bright ideas onto the market and in front of investors, but red tape, talent shortages and a lack of access to funding is holding back innovators from turning their ideas into viable growing businesses.

The Government has announced £30 million of new funding through Research England to support a taskforce of world-leading universities and industry experts across the four locations to take advantage of this opportunity, supporting efforts to incubate and spin out new companies and create the most fertile and attractive environment for the brightest thinkers and entrepreneurs.

The Government is priming the public sector with first-ever guidance to put groundbreaking ideas on the path to investment, becoming the next generation of businesses, creating a pipeline of innovative businesses emerging from the UK’s public sector research landscape.

With step-by-step advice, a new generation of British R&D entrepreneurs in the public sector will be empowered with the tools and support they need to turn ambitious research into marketable products - and in turn unlock benefits from clean energy, to healthcare, and beyond.

Announcing the news on a visit to Aston University, Science Minister, Lord Vallance said: “The UK is home to some of the world’s best universities, and we have deep strengths from life sciences to cutting-edge fields like quantum and engineering biology. But we can and must do more to unlock scientific research’s vast economic potential, and to help our innovators world-leading public sector labs turn brilliant ideas into businesses that attract investment and sustain jobs. The funding and guidance we are announcing today will reinforce those efforts.”

Strategic Commercialisation Ecosystem North East (SCENE) is receiving over £8 million over five years to strengthen and expand the region’s ecosystem, engaging businesses, sector bodies, Catapults and investors more actively in commercialising university research.

Forging ahead/Forging beyond in the Midlands is receiving almost £10 million over five years to address the talent, expertise and skills gaps in the Midlands by creating a ‘Talent Pool’, inward investment champions and innovation networks. The project will particularly target the health, advanced manufacturing, ‘net zero’, and creative and digital sectors. 

Biologics Regional Innovation and Technology Ecosystem (BRITE) in Merseyside will get over £4 million over three years to establish a sustainable life sciences ecosystem, in the Liverpool City Region (LCR), focused on developing treatments like vaccines, by addressing gaps in the development of products and materials from living cells or their components, scale-up, and commercialisation. It will strengthen collaboration between academia, industry, and civic partners to create a connected innovation ecosystem and accelerate the translation of biologics for antimicrobial resistance, infectious diseases, and emerging health challenges.

Agri-Tech Commercialisation Ecosystems (ACE) based in Lincolnshire and East Anglia will receive almost £5 million over three years to establish a world-leading, self-sustaining Agri-Tech research commercialisation cluster in Greater Lincolnshire and East Anglia. It will be supported by Barclays Eagle Labs, Greater Lincolnshire LEP, New Anglia LEP, and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority along with commercial partners.

Ana Avaliani, director of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub, said: “Industry Academia partnerships create the ideal setting for transforming groundbreaking research into spinouts, addressing real world challenges while fostering economic growth and creating pathways for talented researchers to become entrepreneurs. These spinouts drive innovation and represent a crucial and growing component in our economic future. Our Spotlight on Spinouts 2025 report tracked university spinouts securing over £2.6 billion in funding, nearly 40% more than the previous year.”