University spinouts boom as startups pull in billions
Academics are increasingly going on to start their own start-ups, with a surge in spinouts, patents and investment pointing to the growing commercial impact of Britain’s research base.
New figures seen by CityAM show the number of UCL academics seeking to commercialise their research has jumped by more than 25 per cent since the 2022–23 academic year, while patent filings have climbed 20 per cent.
UCL’s business’s latest impact report shows that university discoveries are increasingly translating into companies, jobs and investment across the UK.
It also shows the kinds of technologies emerging from British labs, from AI systems inspired by neuroscience to robotic tools for brain surgery and bio-printed human tissue designed to replace animal testing.
From lab to firm
UCL Business (UCLB), the university’s commercialisation arm, currently oversees 95 active spinout companies employing more than 2,300 people across the UK.
Together those firms have raised £3.06bn in external investment over the past five years and generate a combined turnover of £147.3m.
Early-stage activity is also rising, with more than £910,000 awarded in proof-of-concept and seed funding during the 2024–25 financial year to support new inventions and nascent ventures.
Dr Anne Lane, chief executive of UCL Business, said the increase reflects both technological breakthroughs and a shift in the mindset of academics.
“Over the last couple of years, there’s been a palpable gear-shift in entrepreneurial appetite amongst the academics we work with at UCL, and it’s across the board from advanced biochemistry to AI and humanities”.
“That is translating into an unprecedented flow of inventions and ideas each of which have the potential to change our future world”, she added.
Lane also said that the impact of these companies extends well beyond academic research.
“From curing previously untreatable blood cancers or intractable epilepsy through to business AI that enables businesses to deliver our groceries or sofa when and where we want them – these enterprising academics are now blossoming into business leaders too”.
Deep tech and AI
The latest crop of spinouts illustrates the breadth of technologies emerging from British students across the capital.
In one case, Autolus, a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies that modify a patient’s immune cells to target and destroy cancer, has raised $1.1bn and employs around 450 people, with a manufacturing facility in Stevenage.
Elsewhere, Endomag has developed magnetic nanoparticle technology designed to improve breast cancer surgery and reduce the need for radioactive tracers.
Professor Quentin Pankhurst, whose research led to the technology, said the work has already had global impact.
“The real impact has been in making magnetic methods clinically accepted and available worldwide, offering a safe alternative where radioactive tracers aren’t accessible, for example in rural areas,” he said.
AI is also playing a growing role in the spinout ecosystem. For example Satalia, an AI company founded by UCL researchers, develops algorithms that help businesses optimise logistics, staffing and operations.
Dr Daniel Hulme, chief AI officer at WPP Satalia, said: “If we’re conscientious, then AI can help us create a fairer and freer society, and a world of abundance where the whole of humanity can prosper and thrive”.
An economic lever
The rise of university spinouts is becoming a notable feature of Britain’s innovation economy, and one the country should use to its advantage.
Across the UK, investment in spinout companies reached £3.35bn in 2024, a 44 per cent increase on the previous year, reflecting growing investor interest in research-led ventures.
Many operate in sectors where the UK already has strong capabilities, including life sciences, deep tech and artificial intelligence.
Turning academic breakthroughs into successful companies can still be challenging, particularly when it comes to securing early funding and building networks of investors and collaborators.
But the expanding pipeline of spinouts suggests universities are becoming an increasingly important driver of economic growth.
For policymakers focused on innovation-led growth, the figures prove the role universities can play in translating publicly funded research into commercial activity.
And as the latest UCL data shows, the number of ideas making that journey from laboratory to marketplace is continuing to rise.