Two more universities are to help deliver the Innovation to Commercialisation University Research (ICURe) pilot programme, which was created at the University of Southampton.
Warwick University and Queen鈥檚 University Belfast are joining the ICURe programme thanks to an 拢8m funding boost announced by Business Secretary Greg Clark.
ICURe is a collaboration between the SETsquared Partnership, , and the Department for
. It聽offers university researchers with innovative ideas up to 拢35,000 to 鈥榞et out of the lab鈥� and validate their ideas in the marketplace.
The programme was set up in 2014 and has been developed and led in Southampton. In the last four years, it has engaged 160 university research teams, which have generated more than 11,000 business links around the world and created 120 jobs in 44 new companies.
Wireless communications companies and , which research neonatal lung disease, are two ICURe spinouts from Southampton.
The funding will increase the number of research teams supported to 48 in 2018/19.
Don Spalinger, Chairman of the SETsquared Partnership聽and Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University, said:
鈥淪ETsquared created ICURe to overcome some of the barriers of getting the outputs from the UK鈥檚 world class universities鈥� research labs into the commercial marketplace. ICURe鈥檚 results from its first three years of operation go beyond our expectations.
鈥淚CURe鈥檚 national rollout will enable even more research teams at more universities to take advantage of its proven capabilities.鈥�
