Innovations building on fundamental science and engineering are critical for economic growth and well-being. These advances, collectively known as deep tech, underpin transformative technologies such as next-generation therapeutics, quantum computing, synthetic biology, and advanced materials. They are also critical to solving some of the world’s most urgent challenges, from improving human health and addressing national security to building sustainable food and energy systems.
Businesses building on breakthrough science often emerge from universities and face substantial hurdles in accessing risk capital. Their technical risk can be time-consuming and expensive to reduce, requiring investors to have a strong grasp of the underlying science. They often require substantial regulatory engagement and may depend on the government as an anchor customer. Moreover, the high standard of scientific talent in universities is not always matched with the commercial experience required to build and scale such ventures.
As a result, many promising ventures stall between lab and market, not for lack of potential, but due to gaps in capital, capability and mismatched incentives.
Our mission
We believe breakthrough science has the potential to generate outsized returns, for investors, for society, and for the future. Our mission is to enable world-class university research to achieve its commercial potential by shaping credible opportunities, unlocking risk capital, and removing the barriers that hold back such ventures.
We do so through our research on understanding most effective ways to reduce frictions facing these ventures, our programmes to support talent development, and through policy and ecosystem engagement with innovators, capital providers, and policy makers.
Our focus areas
Our work focuses on three sets of interdependent stakeholders whose engagement is critical to address the commercialisation challenge for university science: innovators, capital providers, and policy makers.
Building investable businesses from university research
A key driver of the ‘valley of death’ between the lab and market is the fact that pre-commercial opportunities emerging from university research are not sufficiently developed prior to spin out. By relying on small grants and angel investment that often lacks accompanying expertise, such spinouts struggle to generate the level of ‘investible data’ that is expected by the top-tier institutional investors who are critical for building and scaling such ventures.
The reasons for the lack of sufficient pre-commercial development within universities is multi-faceted, ranging from insufficient non-dilutive funding and supporting capability within most Tech Transfer offices, to inappropriate incentives and governance within many university translational programmes. Our research in this pillar explores frictions in the spinout process across US and European universities, working to understand and disseminate best practice. In parallel, our programmes and engagement activities are focused on supporting more investible businesses from university research.
DT Prime, our programme for Imperial College London innovators, offers non-dilutive funding and tailored support to help academic inventions progress through key technical, commercial, and regulatory hurdles. We also support teams in evolving their expertise and composition to better position them for institutional venture capital.
Improving risk capital deployment for science-led ventures
A key aspect of innovations building on fundamental science is that they embody technical risk that can be time-consuming and expensive to reduce. In both life sciences and the physical sciences, successful commercialisation increasingly requires specialised investors with a strong grasp of the underlying science as well as the competitive landscape facing these opportunities.
Our research in this pillar helps investors by identifying lab practices and experimental approaches linked to greater predictability and success at commercial scale. Our programmes and engagement are designed to assist investors deploying risk capital to grow and scale science-based ventures.
The Science and Technology VC Fellowship, supported by DSIT and delivered jointly with Royal Academy of Engineering, supports the next generation of leaders in specialised venture capital firms – helping them consider the issues around portfolio construction, portfolio management and fund raising/structuring within specialised life science and deep tech venture capital.
Engaging policymakers through a translation lens
We strive to help policymakers establish a systems-level view to address ecosystem and policy challenges, without which commercialisation support for deep tech and life science startups will not be as effective.
These pertain to design of more effective procurement policies; the design of policies around translation funding, innovation and capital markets; and regulations impacting the supply of critical technical and business talent to build a deep tech and life science ecosystem.
Through our research and engagement, we help policymakers and ecosystem stakeholders better understand how targeted interventions, from funding and procurement models to risk capital frameworks, can unlock value in science-led innovation. By shaping the conditions in which ventures operate, we aim to ensure that more science-led innovation can progress with confidence from early translation through to commercial scale.
Contact us
You can reach us via email at deep-tech@imperial.ac.uk.
Our activities span the South Kensington and White City campuses of Imperial College London.