Four innovative UK hubs across Merseyside, East Anglia, the Midlands, and Northeast England have received fresh backing to grow more ‘spinouts’, part of the the Government’s Plan for Change.
The Government recognises that while UK innovators have made great strides in getting bright ideas onto the market and in front of investors, red tape, talent shortages and a lack of access to funding is holding back innovators from turning their ideas into viable growing businesses.
£30 million funding will support a taskforce of world-leading universities and industry experts across the four locations, 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 has also issued its first ever guidance to put groundbreaking ideas on the path to investment, creating a pipeline of innovative businesses emerging from the UK’s excellent 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.
Of note to our industry is the Biologics Regional Innovation and Technology Ecosystem (BRITE) based in Merseyside, which will receive over £4 million over 3 years to establish a sustainable life sciences ecosystem, in the Liverpool City Region (LCR).
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.
The ‘Forging ahead/Forging beyond’ project, based in the Midlands, will receive almost £10 million over 5 years to address the talent, expertise and skills gaps in the Midlands by creating a Talent Pool, inward investment champions and innovation networks, focusing on sectors including health.
