Imperial brings frontier innovation to London Tech Week 2026

Hosted in the heart of WestTech London, Imperial College London joined the global innovation community to spotlight the research, innovation and entrepreneurship that is shaping the future of technology.

Imperial joined London Tech Week 2026, connecting with global founders, investors, policymakers, industry leaders and the wider tech and innovation community at Olympia London.

London Tech Week, which took place from 8-12 June, is the UK’s premier destination for innovation, collaboration and growth in the tech sector. Imperial’s stand at Olympia showcased the university’s world-leading research, breakthrough ventures and growing innovation ecosystem through WestTech London, with support from Imperial Business School, Imperial Global, the School of Convergence Science and Lifelong Learning, alongside colleagues from Imperial’s wider innovation and enterprise ecosystem. Together, teams championed how Imperial works with businesses, investors and partners to translate scientific discovery into real-world impact.

Imperial's Dr Nigel Steward, Director of the Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance (CSEP) moderating a London Tech Week panel on critical minerals

Imperial academics also contributed to major London Tech Week discussions on climate innovation, quantum, space sustainability, and mineral supply chains, demonstrating the breadth of the university’s contribution to the technologies and partnerships shaping the future of tech and innovation.

Supporting founders through WestTech London’s innovation ecosystem

Throughout London Tech Week Imperial hosted and supported activities and fringe events across WestTech London which connected the next generation of entrepreneurs and established innovators with investors, government and the wider tech ecosystem.

At the White City Deep Tech Campus, Imperial hosted the Department for Business and Trade’s Global Scale-Up Gateway, part of the UK Government’s flagship Global Entrepreneur Programme. The event connected high-growth international founders looking to establish and scale their companies from the UK with key enablers, including one-to-one sessions focused on scaling businesses in the UK. Minister for Investment Lord Stockwood also took part in a fireside conversation on the UK’s offer as a platform for global scaleups.

Minister for Investment Lord Stockwood making the case for the UK as the destination for international founders to establish and scale

Student founders from the Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Management (IEM) programme, delivered by Imperial Business School, also delivered business pitches to investors, operators, alumni and the wider London startup ecosystem at Imperial’s London Tech Week stand and Imperial’s IEM Demo Day. 

Later in the week, Imperial’s Enterprise Lab and Nexus, a partnership between Imperial and Hammersmith & Fulham Council, hosted “What to get right in the first 1,000 days of a startup”. The event brought founders and investors together to share practical lessons on leadership, product development, early investor relationships and the realities of building a venture through its critical early years.

On its London Tech Week stand, Imperial featured student startup Jelly Drops as an example of Imperial’s frontier innovation, showcasing its product which is designed to help people with dementia stay hydrated more easily.

Developed through the Innovation Design Engineering programme, delivered jointly by Imperial and the Royal College of Art, Jelly Drops combines design, healthcare and entrepreneurship to tackle dehydration, a major challenge in dementia care. The health venture is a tangible example of how ideas developed at Imperial can grow into products with the potential to improve people’s lives.

Also at Olympia London were Solena Materials, an Imperial spinout based in Grapht Works in Old Oak Innovation Cluster, who are creating the next generation of protein-based fibres for market leading apparel. Not only are their fibres high performance, but they are also biodegradable and set to transform the environmental impact of the fashion sector. Solena Materials were on the ‘innovators to watch’ at the Department for Business and Trade’s stand. 

Alex Elkins, Co-Director of Enterprise (Partnerships) highlighting Imperial's industry partnerships at the London Tech Week stand

Visitors to the Imperial stand also heard about its wider support for businesses, entrepreneurs and innovators across its WestTech London innovation ecosystem, which supports companies like Jelly Drops and Solena Materials to develop and grow. This includes access to specialist facilities, world-leading talent and research expertise, as well as programmes, global networks and expert support designed to help startups and scaleups turn ideas into impact.

These events demonstrated Imperial’s key role in generating breakthrough research and ventures, as well as convening the networks, expertise and partnerships that help founders start, scale and grow in WestTech London.

Advancing AI-enabled scientific discovery 

Imperial’s activity at London Tech Week coincided with the announcement of a new strategic collaboration with AMD, one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, to advance AI-enabled scientific discovery, sovereign AI infrastructure and next-generation high-performance computing in the UK.

The collaboration is expected to support advanced computational research across areas including engineering design, materials discovery, climate and earth system modelling, neuroscience and brain imaging, epidemiology, biosecurity, genomics and computational biology.

President Professor Hugh Brady also hosted AMD Chair and CEO Dr Lisa Su at Imperial’s White City Campus, where she met Imperial researchers, AI innovators and startups including Polaron and Multus, as well as Imperial’s AI for Science Fellows.

Convening leaders on physical AI and robotics 

Imperial also hosted a roundtable on physical AI and robotics with NVIDIA, a global technology company and leader in accelerated computing. The event brought together senior leaders from government, industry, academia and the robotics ecosystem to discuss the UK’s opportunity to lead in physical AI.

The discussion was co-chaired by Professor Mary Ryan, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), Kanishka Narayan MP, Minister for AI and Online Safety, and Rev Lebaredian, Vice President of Physical AI Simulation at NVIDIA.

Participants discussed the opportunities emerging from advances in robotics, autonomous systems and frontier AI, as well as the infrastructure, skills, regulation and adoption needed to translate these technologies into real-world benefit. The discussion also highlighted Imperial’s School of Convergence Science and the role of WestTech London in connecting discovery research with industry, investors and government.

Biosecurity at the Frontier Conference 

As part of Imperial’s wider London Tech Week activity, the university hosted a major Biosecurity at the Frontier conference. The conference brought together world-leading researchers, policymakers and experts to examine how emerging biological threats are changing, and how science, technology and partnership can strengthen preparedness, surveillance and response.

At the event, Imperial launched its new Biosecurity Network of Excellence, a university-wide initiative bringing together expertise across health, engineering and technology to advance interdisciplinary research and collaboration in this critical area.

President Professor Hugh Brady at the Biosecurity at the Frontier Conference

The conference explored how advances in AI, synthetic biology and engineering biology are reshaping the global biosecurity landscape, and the importance of partnership across academia, government and industry in responding to complex and interconnected risks such as pandemics, biological weapons, and attacks on food systems.

Curating connections for real-world impact 

Together, Imperial’s activity at London Tech Week 2026 highlighted the university’s role as a convenor, partner and engine of innovation at the heart of WestTech London, connecting world-class research with entrepreneurs, industry and government to help turn scientific discovery into real-world impact.