UCLB’s 2025 Impact Report shows an increase of almost a quarter (24.5%) in academics seeking to commercialise their research, with a trend for AI-related technologies and nine spin-outs founded over the 12-month period, an average of one every six weeks.

Launching the Report, CEO Dr. Anne Lane highlights UCL’s thriving innovation ecosystem – and says that the secret of its success lies in end-to-end support to enable researchers to become entrepreneurs building high growth businesses.

It has also been a hugely successful year for UCL’s established spin-out businesses which are attracting investment and delivering breakthrough technologies to the market, including:

• A deeptech success story in Oriole Networks’ $35 million attracting investment in its faster and power-efficient ‘light powered’ data processing tech which could be a game changer for data centres
• Trace Neuroscience raising a record $101 million Series A to trial a potential game-changing new treatment for motor neurone disease
• Autolus gaining FDA approval for its immunotherapy for severe resistant lymphoblastic leukaemia, as well as a $250 million venture capital investment

Key statistics from the report:

• 2,459 people employed by UCLB spinouts
• £3 billion external investment raised by UCLB between 2019-2024
• 95 active spin-out companies
• £89 million: UCLB spinout turnover
• £248 million: spinout portfolio value
• 22 advanced therapeutics in clinical-stage pipeline – a pipeline akin to that of a large sized pharmaceutical company
• £13.4 million invested in UCL technologies by UCL Technology Fund
• Nine Spinouts founded in the last 12 months, an average of one every 6 weeks

UCLB CEO Dr Anne Lane said: “Today’s report is good news for Britain. Not only is it evidence of a thriving innovation eco-system, it shows how supporting effective commercialisation of university research is the key to unlocking innovation-led growth – whilst helping solve society’s greatest challenge, from achieving net zero to more effective cancer treatments.   

“The secret of success is our end-to-end support for spinouts - from protecting IP and providing early-stage Proof-of-Concept funding, to investing in high growth businesses through our Technology Funds. Our commitment to the wider innovation ecosystem through supporting academic entrepreneurialism and collaborations across research-led universities is creating an environment where the life-changing potential of academic research can be realised.”

In the foreword of the report, Chi Onwurah, Chair of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, commented: “The UK faces complex challenges that will shape our future. Whether it’s finding cures for rare diseases, achieving net zero, or unlocking the full potential of AI, innovation is key to solving them. Our universities are at the forefront of this effort, producing groundbreaking research and fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

She later adds: “One thing I’ve learnt is that the success of spinouts and scaleups depends not just on research excellence but on the strength of the wider innovation ecosystem. This report makes clear that when universities, investors, industry, and policymakers work together, they create the conditions for businesses to thrive. When that happens, and as this report shows, investment in these ecosystems pays dividends.”

Proof of Concept funding vital to driving spinout successes

The report shows that UCLB awarded over £350,000 in Proof-of-Concept (POC) funding: small grants which help academics develop investment-ready propositions from their research, a key precursor to the creation of high-growth businesses. The report also highlights major spinout success stories which may not have happened without POC funding and early-stage seed-funding.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves, in her ‘further, faster’ speech, singled out innovation as key to growth – and today’s report underlines the importance of expert support and early-stage funding to bridge the gap between academic research and creating market-ready innovations.

In the Budget, the Chancellor announced she would be “supporting commercialisation of our world class university research by providing at least £40 million over 5 years for proof of concept funding and improvements to support for researchers spinning out the UK’s cutting edge research into firms of the future”. UKRI, the research body responsible for distributing the fund, has invited applications for the first tranche of this fund - £9 million to be split into grants of up to £250,000. UCLB is calling on the Government to expand this fund to ensure as many academics as possible are supported to turn breakthroughs into high growth businesses.

Social ventures

The report also highlights the success of ‘social ventures’ – spinout businesses set up to solve specific challenges in communities and which reinvest all their profits into that endeavour.

These include a device which maximises income for subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa by measuring the starch content of their cassava crops, and an interactive resource to support women to make more informed decisions about their medical treatment by improving the quality, accuracy and relevance of information they receive.

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