In early 2019, Imperial made several moves to take its commercial activity and entrepreneurship to the next level. We started to lead on technology transfer ourselves, bringing the previously external organisation inhouse, opening up our startups to a wider range of investors.
We also brought consultancy, incubation, and hackspace facilities together with existing commercialisation work to strengthen connections across our entrepreneurial ecosystem, making it easier for you to work with a broader range of academics and students.
This level of reorganisation has inevitably led to a bedding-in period while we establish new systems and synergies. And I am delighted to report that the changes are starting to bear fruit, as this edition of the Review evidences.
Companies looking for a supportive way to connect with the College have signed up to the Imperial Business Partners programme, which provides support to navigate a variety of specialist advice from Imperial’s academic experts. We have been delighted to welcome a new cohort of banks and other financial services companies to the programme this year, and look forward to hearing from you if accelerated access to the best of Imperial’s people, technologies, expertise and facilities could support your business.
The reorganisation has enabled us to open up investment opportunities to a fuller range of investors, with the newly established Investor forum offering members an exclusive opportunity to hear from staff and student startups on a regular basis. Earlier this year we also launched the Imperial College Innovation Fund, providing opportunities to invest in early-stage, high-growth, knowledge-intensive companies.
For those of you interested in furthering research, we offer an expanded portfolio of partnership and licensing opportunities. Our recently launched technology portfolio platform – Imperial.tech – highlights some of the best technologies coming out of the College at the moment.
Imperial’s innovation under lockdown has been inspiring and humbling, with an amazing diversity of COVID-beating technologies accelerated into clinical trials and use. As we continue to adapt and respond to COVID-19, we will particularly be examining how best to collaborate at an international scale. We look forward to increasing the number of companies we work with, whatever the route. Please do connect with us to explore what we can offer you.
Dr Simon Hepworth
Director of Enterprise
Imperial College London