Powering Ideas to Innovation: New UCI report
An excellent report by Tomas Coates Ulrichsen FRSA and Joscelyn Miller at Policy Evidence Unit for University Commercialisation & Innovation (UCI) in response to the publication this week of the UK Spinout Register.
Spinout investment activity is inevitably linked to macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions (inflation, interest rates, political volatility) and so can be expected to wax and wane in line with such global forces.
Local/regional/national UK initiatives may have positive impacts in terms of supporting the creation of new spinouts but are always likely to be subordinate to macroeconomic trends.
Notwithstanding the above, there remains value in building the strongest foundations for growth once the economic climate starts to thaw. That is why initiatives like the Mansion House Compact remain critical in leveraging pension fund investment to support venture-backed spinouts.
It is also why Proof of Concept funding represents an equally critical source of funding to create more robust opportunities in which such venture funds can invest.
The report notes the importance of taking a portfolio view of spinouts, recognising that a small number will make it big (like Oxford Ionics, for which a $1B+ acquisition was announced yesterday) and that many will fail.
It also rightly notes that achieving unicorn status is not the only measure of success, and that a healthy population of sustainable businesses well below unicorn valuations can be celebrated for the jobs, taxes and societal impact they bring.
As Tomas and Joscelyn recognise, there remains much to do to derive greater value from this initial iteration of the Spinout Register, especially where linking to other data sets can increase the richness of information linked to companies therein. But it is a good foundation on which to establish a resource that would set the UK apart in terms of understanding the scope and impact of our spinout activity.
As the report notes in its conclusion, “the Spinout Register can help us and many others to leverage the increased information available to find ways of building the ecosystems across the breadth of the UK that are needed to seed, nurture and grow spinouts, and better support these companies to grow, thrive and scale for the benefit of the UK and the world.”
Director, Policy Evidence Unit for University Commercialisation and Innovation at University of Cambridge
5moMany thanks for the reflections Adam!