UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)'s recent independent review on deepening university-investor links in the UK validates the need for FIVe and proves how collaborative organisations like FISC can support innovative spinouts and start ups to scale and commercialise.

The extensive review by Tony Hickson, Chief Business Officer at Cancer Research UK, builds on existing work and suggests new approaches and recommendations to improve collaboration between universities, investors, and industry to accelerate innovation pathways.

Here are some of the key themes that stood out the most to us….

We're innovative but times are changing

As Professor Dame Jessica Corner, Research England Executive Chair writes in the foreword, we have moved beyond the traditional competitive pathway of universities generating IP individually to get the best return, to a "third age" where they need to work collectively. This will enable the UK to "…convert research into durable national value by optimising across all parties end to end support for funders and companies", creating the right conditions to anchor innovation within the UK and deliver an environment where they can "…scale and grow at pace."

The quality and depth of research and innovation in the UK is evident, with four universities that sit in the top ten worldwide, and more start ups than any other country in Europe, coming second only to the USA.

Yet the innovation landscape is fragmented, the distribution of investment is uneven, and we need to broaden our creation of unicorns, those private, venture-backed companies valued at $1bn or more beyond fintech, software and services to a mix of deep tech, life science and creative industries that align to the UK's Industrial Strategy.

Innovators need access to funding

Start ups and spinouts create innovative products and processes that fuel productive growth and have a strong influence on regional (and national) development. In the UK, it is clear that we have the ideas, but we fall behind at the proof-of-concept (POC) and proof-of-market stages, that pre-seed stage where we lag significantly behind our international peers.

Despite an abundance of research, the journey from the first prototype to the much talked about pre-commercialisation gap when the product is developed and then commercialised (the scaling gap) is fraught with funding issues.

For investors, not enough propositions are considered ‘investment ready.' They, like industry, expect substantial validation and risk reduction with a growing need for POC. There is a lack of the right kinds of investment capital at critical stages, the ultra-early stage to de-risk ideas and get them investment ready, then later-stage capital to help them scale up and remain in the UK.

Investors are increasingly more selective on ‘risk-off' investment with venture capital making larger bets on fewer companies. POC investment remains inconsistent and incoherent with entrepreneurs having to jump between funding agencies and funding windows. The review recommends diverting some of British Business Bank's fund to plug the gap funding early-stage projects or spinouts alongside tax incentives for philanthropists and alumni to donate to universities where it's ringfenced for entrepreneurship.

Capital alone isn't the answer - support and access to scale-up facilities is needed

But as the review says, capital alone is not the answer. New companies need specialist services and support, from mentorship and guidance to access to high quality lab space and deep tech equipment.

Investors don't just want a couple of templated essential documents and some IP. They want to see funding models, investor materials, market testing, engagement with potential customers and a clear go-to-market strategy and pitch.

Working with startups and spinouts through FIVe we see the push for investment too early with hastily created online pitch decks and checklists, ahead of technical due diligence. Many have come through short incubator cohorts with generic support. As the review says, there is a clear need for specialist, tailored support. That's where we come in.

Across a number of scale-up centres, with deep sector expertise, FIVe offers market-specific support, for commercial readiness. We help with applying for early-stage funding, preparing to access the right investors and equally importantly offer access to world-leading research and technology scale-up centres through FISC, to prove and de risk innovations and give the confidence needed.

The right technology, the right investment at the right time

The "three R's" in the review are vitally important - the right technology, the right investment at the right time. The business support environment has become "vast and bewildering" spread across local authorities, Catapults and lots of incubators (440) and accelerators (314) whose effectiveness varies. Many investors are sceptical about accelerators so there is a need for not just demo days but evidence of sector impact and time to revenue rather than just quantity or survival after so many years.

And with the Industrial Strategy being placed based, place-based investment is an ongoing debate. Helping retain spinouts in clusters offers clear local strengths building strong resilience communities but we need to offer UK wide mobility. We support the recommendations for universities to explore cross-sector collaborations to "curate and present high-quality, sector-specific spinout pipelines" that are vertically integrated rather than across a region.

Investor literacy, diversity, and broader ecosystem reforms

We've written before about how the most diverse companies in terms of gender, ethnic and cultural diversity outperform those of lower diversity. Yet 75.5 per cent of spinout funding goes to all male founding teams and only 11 per cent of female-led teams receive angel backing, to include just two statistics. Measures to tip the balance will be welcome and the Investment in Women Taskforce is helping.

There is also work to be done around investor literacy. Later stage funding in the UK typically comes from people from a financial service background, so there is often a lack of scientific expertise. It can be difficult to explain complex scale-up ventures which is why partnerships and the translation of science to industry impact is vitally important.

We also back many of the review's other recommendations including regulatory reform and better public procurement. There needs to be more Advanced Market Commitments and strategic procurement by public agencies to de-risk early-stage investment.

The all-encompassing theme throughout the review is collaboration and joined up thinking - an issue across every industry.

By bringing together global leaders in innovation, research, and technology from across the Foundation Industries, FISC and FIVe are connecting the dots, already helping accelerate the commercialisation of sustainable, innovative technologies, materials, and processes by streamlining access to scale-up support across the industries.

Published: 03-03-2026