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2025-01-27

Spinouts Beyond The Golden Triangle

Cambridge, Oxford, and London dominate spinout funding. But an alternative and well-distributed narrative emerges when we pivot the data to companies.

Cambridge University leads the top twenty UK universities in spinout funding. Its spinouts received £33.47B between 2018 and 2023. That's more than double the £16.32B - combined - that spinouts at the other universities received.

The Golden Triangle - Cambridge, Oxford, and London - dominates spinout funding. The disproportionate funding its spinouts receive bolsters its innovation epicentre reputation. Funding should continue to flow towards the Golden Triangle. The UK needs these innovations to remain competitive globally.

An alternative spinouts narrative emerges when we pivot the data to spinout companies. It's not dominated by the Golden Triangle. It's well distributed across the nation.

The University of Edinburgh, University College London, and the University of Leeds lead. Next are the University of Birmingham, Imperial College, and the University of Nottingham. These well-distributed (and often unnoticed) spinout companies highlight the potential across the nation.

The Golden Triangle will likely continue to dominate spinout funding. It should - it is the UK's innovation epicentre. But the UK's well-distributed spinout companies need more targeted funding.

Wasted talent is the saddest thing in life (thanks, A Bronx Tale). There's a risk that funding - like UK politics - becomes more centralised and wastes talent.

The Golden Triangle is - and will likely remain - the UK's innovation epicentre. But there are opportunities beyond the Golden Triangle. There are lucrative yet overlooked investment opportunities for investors. There are also opportunities to build distributed centres of innovation for policymakers. This isn't about replacing the Golden Triangle. It's about investing in the UK's potential to lead in Europe and compete globally.

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