Deep Tech Research Commercialisation in London – How Lab Science Becomes a Company

Deep tech research commercialisation in London runs mainly through the city's universities: a researcher discloses an invention to the university's commercialisation team, the intellectual property is protected and then licensed to a new spinout, and that company raises money from university-linked funds, angels and specialist investors. Two of the five UK universities in Europe's top ten for spinout value, University College London and Imperial College London, are in the capital, according to the Royal Academy of Engineering. Since national reforms in 2023 universities take smaller stakes, and this guide sets out who does what in London, the published terms and the public programmes that help researchers test an idea first (checked October 2026).

London in the national spinout picture

The best recent evidence comes from the Royal Academy of Engineering's Spotlight on Spinouts 2026 report, published on 3 June 2026 with data from Dealroom. It found that around 2,000 spinout companies have been created in the UK since 2010, generating 27,000 jobs, and that their combined value has risen to about £49 billion, nearly three times the 2020 figure. The UK hosts five of the top ten European universities for spinout value creation: Oxford (first in Europe), Cambridge, UCL, Bristol and Imperial.

The same report is frank about the limits. Oxford and Cambridge still dominate spinout value since 2010, so London sits inside the "Golden Triangle" rather than leading it. Ana Avaliani, Director of Enterprise at the Academy, said: "Spinouts can take 12 to 18 months to launch, and that pace simply doesn't match the urgency of the opportunity."

Investment figures point the same way. The Academy's Enterprise Hub State of UK Deep Tech report, published on 24 November 2025, ranked the UK first in Europe and third in the world for deep tech venture capital, with nearly $6 billion invested in 2025 at the time of writing. Deep tech made up 31% of all UK venture funding. Just under a thousand venture-backed deep tech spinouts have been created since 2010, about 34% of the ecosystem. The weakness is late-stage money: UK investors take part in 57% of seed rounds but fewer than 10% of late-stage rounds, which are mostly led from the USA.

From disclosure to spinout, step by step

The route is broadly the same at every London university, although names and paperwork differ.

1. Disclosure. The researcher tells the university's commercialisation team about a result before publishing it. This matters because, as the GOV.UK guide to patenting an invention explains, an invention must be new: it cannot already have been made public anywhere in the world, for example in a paper.
2. Assessment and protection. The team judges commercial potential and decides whether to file a patent. Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods cannot be patented on their own, and software only qualifies if it has a technical purpose.
3. Market testing. Before forming a company, many teams test whether anyone will buy the technology (see the ICURe programme below).
4. Company formation and licence. A spinout is incorporated, the university licenses the intellectual property to it and usually takes shares in return.
5. First funding. Seed money typically comes from university-linked funds, angels and specialist investors, sometimes alongside grants.
6. Space and support. The company moves into incubator or lab space and builds a commercial team.

Most UK universities claim ownership of intellectual property that staff create in the course of their work, so the licence and equity terms are the first negotiation. Take independent legal advice before signing anything.

Equity and licence terms after the 2023 reforms

In March to October 2023 the government commissioned an independent review of university spin-out companies, led by Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and Dr Andrew Williamson of Cambridge Innovation Capital. UKRI's summary of the final report, published on 21 November 2023, lists 11 recommendations, and the government accepted all of them. The review proposed that university stakes in IP-intensive spinouts should generally fall between 10% and 25%, and at 10% or less for less IP-intensive companies such as software.

The effect is now visible. The Spotlight on Spinouts 2026 report found the average university stake has fallen to about 16%, the lowest in a decade, compared with 22 to 25% before the reforms. Software companies still average around 17%, above the guidance. Founder equity is uneven too: 63% of successful spinouts had unequal founder splits, and only 17% had at least one female founder.

Imperial publishes its terms in full. Under Founders Choice, updated from 1 August 2023, founders choose between two options (checked October 2026):

• Non-dilutable stake: 5% for Imperial, protected from dilution until £20 million of cumulative investment for pharmaceutical companies or £5 million for other companies.
• Dilutable stake: 20% for pharmaceutical companies and 10% for others.
• Licence payments: a licence fee of £50,000 plus VAT paid in five annual instalments, a 10% royalty on sub-licensing receipts, and a sales royalty of 0.5%, 1% or 2% (depending on margin) that applies only once aggregate net sales pass £50 million.

These figures give any London founder a published benchmark to compare against the offer from their own institution.

Where research is commercialised in London

Imperial College London. Imperial Enterprise reported on 31 July 2026 that 14 spinouts were formed in the past year, matching the year before, with companies such as Precision Microbubbles, Cardiovolt.ai and AxonCtrl. Marika Reay, Cross-Faculty Commercialisation Director, said: "I'm delighted to see our formation rate sustained for another year." Imperial's White City Campus in west London is the centre of the White City Innovation District; the university describes it as home to more than 5,000 students, scientists and innovators working in over 100 companies, with the I-HUB and the Imperial White City Incubator offering lab and office space.

UCL. UCL's commercialisation company, UCL Business Ltd, renamed itself UCL Ventures on 29 June 2026. It remains a wholly owned subsidiary of the university, based in Bloomsbury. Its own figures (checked October 2026) are 198 companies since 1993, more than 1,400 patents and 8,700 licences, and £4.5 billion of capital raised since 2016. Five UCL spinouts have listed on Nasdaq since 2018, including Autolus Therapeutics, which grew out of the UCL Cancer Institute. Chief Executive Dr Anne Lane said: "Commercialisation is no longer simply about creating companies or licensing intellectual property. It is about building the right route for each idea to reach the people who need it." Researchers can find their business manager through the UCL Ventures website.

King's College London. The King's Entrepreneurship Institute supports students, staff and alumni with an Idea Factory, a Validation Fund, a spinout track and the King's Investor Network. Four King's start-ups pitched at London Demo Day in September 2026.

Money for the early stages

Deep tech companies usually combine several sources of early money. The ones below are London-based or open to London researchers, and each has published details (checked October 2026).

• University-linked funds. The Imperial College Enterprise Funds, first launched in 2020 and managed by Parkwalk Advisors, make seed investments in research-intensive businesses from Imperial; they had invested in 12 companies across the first three funds.
• The London Co-Investment Fund. Run by Funding London from High Holborn, the London Co-Investment Fund was launched in 2014 with £25 million from the Mayor of London through the London Economic Action Partnership and up to £60 million from partners. It has backed 155 pre-seed and seed companies. It invests alongside approved co-investment partners rather than on its own.
• Grants and fellowships. The Royal Academy of Engineering's Enterprise Hub, based at Prince Philip House on Carlton House Terrace, offers funding, training and mentoring and takes no equity. It reports more than 600 entrepreneurs supported and £3.8 billion raised by its members.
• Breakthrough research funding. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency, a public body created by Act of Parliament, funds research that is "too speculative, too hard, or too interdisciplinary to pursue elsewhere" through calls run by its Programme Directors. Its funding calls in October 2026 included robot locomotion and precision mitochondria.

Investment is never guaranteed, and terms vary between funds, so read each fund's eligibility page and take professional advice before you accept money.

Testing the market before you form a company

Innovate UK's ICURe programme (Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research) is open to researchers at UK universities, including London's. It has four stages: Engage (four weeks, part-time), Discover (ten weeks, part-time and online), Explore (a full-time, 12-week market exploration with up to £35,000 for the Entrepreneurial Lead's salary and costs) and Exploit (12 weeks of company formation support for teams recommended for spin-out). Innovate UK Business Connect says ICURe projects have attracted around £500 million of further investment, licensing and grant funding.

The value of this stage is evidence. Investors in a spinout want to see named potential customers and a reason they will pay, not only a paper and a patent.

Regulation and what to check early

Regulatory routes shape timelines more than many founders expect. Medical devices and diagnostics in Great Britain fall under the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and financial products may need Financial Conduct Authority authorisation. Identify your regulator before you write the funding plan.

Before you sign a spinout agreement, check:

• whether your university publishes standard terms, and how they compare with the 2023 review guidance and Imperial's published benchmark;
• whether the university's stake is dilutable, and up to what level of investment any protection lasts;
• the licence fee, royalty rates and any sub-licensing share;
• how founder equity is split, and what happens if roles change (more than half of founders in the Spotlight on Spinouts survey said roles changed after formation);
• whether public money, such as a grant, carries conditions on where the company operates.

London's research base sits alongside Oxford and Cambridge, and many founders work across all three. Our sister guides at Cambridge Society and Oxford Society cover those cities.