Investors, university commercialisation teams, and legal professionals gathered in London on 21 May for the launch of Phase 1 of the Deal Readiness Toolkit, a new, open-access resource developed to accelerate and simplify the commercialisation of university research.
Created by the聽 (an alliance of the universities of Southampton, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter and Surrey) – in collaboration with legal experts and investors and funded by Research England, the Toolkit offers a comprehensive set of standardised templates, checklists, and practical guides. It is designed to support all stakeholders in the research commercialisation journey, from academic founders to technology transfer offices and venture investors.
Diana Galpin (pictured above), Southampton鈥檚 Director of Enterprise and Knowledge Exchange, said:
鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to have led the collaborative effort across the partner universities to develop this valuable resource. The toolkit will support and enable researchers, university commercialisation teams and investors to get deals agreed more quickly. My thanks to Vicki Lewin, James Wagstaff and the in Research and Innovation Services who have worked so hard on this.”
Diana continued: 鈥淲e encourage researchers to explore the resource and give us feedback so we can hone and improve it over the coming months. Our ambition is for a wide uptake across the sector so together we can transform the pace of deal-making, bringing products and services to market sooner, delivering impact and boosting the economy.鈥�
A number of online briefing workshops will be held for staff members before the end of September, where researchers will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on the resources.