A programme which Leicester Startups CIC helped to deliver has been shortlisted for a national award.
VentureVersity, which was developed through a collaboration between the University of Leicester, De Montfort University (DMU) and Loughborough University in partnership with Leicester Startups, aimed to turn university research into successful start-ups
The Research England funded programme is one of three projects shortlisted for the Knowledge Exchange Awards’ under the Sector Collaboration category.
VentureVersity involved an initial 26 initial project teams, 11 of which were selected for a final accelerator. Collectively, they have since secured £225,000 in funding.
Leicester Startups founder Ben Ravilious said:
“Helping to deliver such a massive programme in VentureVersity, to see its success and legacy is a really proud moment for our community. Let’s hope it leads to many many more startups in our region!”
Thanks to its success, VentureVersity is now being expanded to researchers and commercialisation teams across 15 Midlands partner universities as part of Forging Ahead.
Rajinder Bhuhi 🍀, Forging Ahead Project Manager said:
“Through Forging Ahead, which launched earlier this year, VentureVersity now has that opportunity of reaching a wider audience of academics with 15 university partners across the Midlands, aiming to scale this successful model even further. This expansion marks a crucial step in unlocking the potential of more research-led ideas across the region, building a more connected innovation ecosystem and a stronger pipeline of new commercialisation opportunities.”
William Wells, CEO of Space Park Leicester at the University of Leicester, said:
“We are delighted to be nominated for this award. The approach we adopted in VentureVersity is genuinely novel and innovative in itself. It was made possible because of the close working relationships between our region’s university partners and effective co-design and delivery with our start-up community and local businesses. Once we opened up the opportunity to researchers and students, we were amazed by the demand. We expect to see at least five businesses emerge out of the programme.”
Professor Mike Kagioglou, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Planning, Research and Innovation at DMU said:
“VentureVersity shows what can be achieved when universities work together with businesses to turn research into real-world impact. Seeing five new ventures now emerging from the programme and others progressing towards commercialisation demonstrates the quality and ambition of our researchers and their ideas. It’s a brilliant example of how collaboration can drive economic and societal benefit.”
The KE Awards celebrate excellence in knowledge exchange and innovation across the UK’s higher education sector.
Winners will be announced at an awards evening on November 27 at The Lowry, Salford. A one-minute video about the project can be watched here.