If you look at some of the biggest technology companies in the world, from Google and Facebook to hardware companies like Dell or even biotech unicorns like Oxford’s own Oxford Nanopore, all of them started on university campuses. If you are a researcher interested in finding out how to make the first steps to commercialise your research here is a quick guide:
Find entrepreneurship support at your campus
Depending on where you are in the world, this can look slightly different. Broadly speaking, there are three main avenues to get early support.
1. University tech transfer office
In Oxford, Oxford University Innovation is responsible for spinning out all university IP into startups. If you are a PhD student or researcher, this would be the first place to go and confirm the ownership of the IP you are generating.
2. University startup community
Your next step should be to connect to all available resources on campus that can help you with mentorship, finding co-founders and formulating a business plan. Here in Oxford there are several places to go for general support such as the Oxford Foundry, Said Entrepreneurship Centre or the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. There are also student societies that can be extremely helpful in starting your startup journey. For example the Oxford Venture Capital Network is a student run society that connects students with investors and educates students on what early stage investors would be looking for when investing in student startups. All of these initiatives offer training and crash courses for scientists with no prior experience in tech-commercialisation and are a great place to start learning.
3. Early stage incubator/accelerator programs
If you already have an idea/tech developed and you are aiming to flesh out your commercial strategy, an incubator program can be a big help. Accelerators based in youur local university ecosystem are most likely going to be the best place to start since those programs usually are tailored towards idea-stage startups and do not take an equity stake in your venture. In Oxford, there are great programs such as the IMAGINE IF program (for science ventures specifically), the student-run OX1 incubator or the OUI incubator.
For more advanced startups that are thinking about fundraising, there are also the Bioescalator, the Creative Destruction Lab and the Foundry ELEVATE program.
Build your network
The next step (or even better when done in parallel to steps 1,2,3) should be to network outside of your direct university startup ecosystem as much as possible. This might include for profit incubators/investors that are close to the oxford ecosystem such as Panacea Innovation, Oxford Capital or the Oxford Seed Fund. However even more important is to reach out beyond your campus to national or international investors. The VC industry and the fundraising process is extremely network dependent and the sooner you start the easier it will be in a year’s time when you are actually raising your first £500k seed round. Societies like the Oxford Venture Capital Network are especially useful in giving you a chance to talk to VC’s and make connections with leading investors in university spinouts like the Creator Fund which has been one of the most active investors exclusively for student founders.
There is amazing new tech being built right now in your lab or the computer science office next door, it is up to you to do something with it. As inspiration, look at Vaccitech which has developed the Oxford/AZ vaccine for COVID-19. Just 5 years ago, Vaccitech was research IP based at the Jenner institute. I hope this quick guide was helpful and you are finding the resources you need to learn about the potential your research could have on the world!
