PraxisAuril members, Anderson Law, commissioned Linstock Communications for this in-depth look at the way in which private and public funding is affecting the success of UK spinouts. It is a timley and topical report in the context of the UK's Industrial Strategy and the emphasis put on spin-outs in much of the debate around knowlege exchange.
The report asks what is the relationship between research funding, the creation of a spinout, and the private investement it receives. The authors used data from UK Research Councils and Innovate UK on public investments combined with data from Beauhurst on private investment into spinouts. That was supplemented by interviews with experts who have worked with spinouts over the past 20 years (including many PraxisAuril members and our Head of Policy, Tamsin Mann). The report concludes with a number of recommendations for the Government, UKRI and Universities.
One particularly pleasing conclusion of the report is that "spin-outs from UK universities are thriving" and have a greater survival rate than spin-outs as a whole. The number of university spin-outs is on the rise and there is no danger of policy focus moving on any time soon - in fact it is only likely to intensify. In that respect, this report is welcome and raises questions that will feed discussions in this important area of our work.
