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About Us

UCLTF offers investment throughout the commercialisation journey. We fund proof-of-concept and development projects, and support academics with company formation.

UCL Technology Fund invests in the world-class intellectual property created by UCL researchers. Our experienced team helps founders scale globally with the potential to transform lives and move markets.

 

 

The Fund focuses on the Physical and Life Sciences, and is managed by AlbionVC, in collaboration with UCL Business. UCL Technology Fund builds on the successful 20-year relationship between these two organisations.

The Fund's mission is to support the development of the UCL ecosystem.

Early-stage VC investor that offers long-term capital and scale-up expertise.

The commercialisation company of UCL.

The Fund’s size and long-term investment horizon means we can offer funding throughout the commercialisation journey, from ‘idea stage’ to impact.
We have a rigorous investment process which takes account of both the quality of the science and its commercial potential.

How we work

We provide investment throughout the commercialisation journey, from £250,000 for early-stage proof-of-concept projects through to £7m spinout investments to take innovations to market. We also directly support academic labs with up to £2m in project funding to support progress to a partnering or licensing outcome. All projects backed by the Fund must have the potential to deliver significant outsized investment returns.

 

The Fund offers investments of up to £7m (in total) to support teams in taking unique, capital-efficient and protectable technologies all the way through to market. Most spinout funding recipients are entrepreneurial founding teams with a leadership structure in place. Each team will have a strong, technically differentiated approach to solving a significant market problem or unmet need, and have identified several clearly addressable, sizeable markets. Spinout teams have mostly proven their concept and seen it validated with external partners, and offer clarity on how they can reach large markets or patient populations.
The Fund offers up to £2 million for post-proof-of-concept projects to allow researchers to develop technologies to the point where they can be partnered with or licensed to a commercial or industrial partner, who has the wherewithal to progress the program through to market. For example, our Fund can help support turning an idea into a clinic-ready asset that a partner can progress through clinical trials. Funds are provided directly to an academic lab or Institute, eliminating the need to incorporate at this stage of development. Most technologies eligible for UCLTF licensing funding form the basis of a single product/application and can identify multiple potential external partners.
UCLTF Proof-of-Concept (PoC) funding supports UCL founders in developing their technology and demonstrating its potential for commercialisation, and therefore opening up the opportunity for further significant funding by UCLTF either in the form of a Licensing Project or Spinout company. These projects typically span technical work packages for gathering further experimental data, proving real-world prototypes of lab inventions, and/or creating fully costed development plans and commercial justification for progression to market based on real-world data and industrial/expert feedback and insight. We typically offer up to £250,000 per PoC project, usually over a period of 12 months.

FAQs

Some of the questions we are frequently asked, are answered below. If you need further information, please contact us: info@ucltf.co.uk

UCLTF is managed by AlbionVC, a leading UK venture capital fund, in collaboration with UCL Business (UCLB), UCL’s technology transfer company. Where a program has the potential to receive investment, UCLB and AlbionVC teams work actively together with the relevant academic team to support the process in an independent, transparent, and iterative way.

UCLTF is unique among UK venture capital providers. It is available only where UCL and its academics are adding value to IP. Unlike other funds, which have specific calls for applications, founders can apply to UCLTF all year round. Our investment decision-making process is notable for being transparent and independent, and for including both scientific peer review and commercial assessment. The Fund is unusual in directly supporting academic labs via its Licensing Project funding stream to progress to a partnering outcome.
UCLTF welcomes applications from all Faculties, Departments and Institutes of UCL. Funding can be provided where a clear link to UCL can be shown, such as a collaboration with a researcher working at the university.
Proof-of-concept (PoC) funding supports academics in developing their technology and demonstrating its potential for commercialisation. We offer up to £250,000 per PoC project, usually over a period of up to 12 months. Success of the project can lead to direct follow-on funding from UCLTF to develop the project to the point it can be licensed to a third party, or spun out into a new company.

UCLTF offers up to £2 million to later-stage, post-proof-of-concept projects to allow researchers to develop technologies to the point where they can be licensed. This can help academic teams gain lower-risk and higher-value licensing outcomes, as it allows projects to efficiently reach a later stage of development while still at UCL.
Sometimes creating a company is the best way to commercialise a technological innovation. UCLTF can provide seed funding to these portfolio companies, plus broader commercial support during the early stages of company formation.
If you think you have a project that fulfils the Fund’s investment criteria, please contact your UCLB Business Manager here.
Yes, although this will sometimes require a framework agreement to be reached between UCLTF and an existing funder. Do check the terms and conditions provided by your existing funder.

The UCLTF is supported by UCL and leverages further public and private investment from the European Investment Fund, the British Business Bank, AlbionVC and others. UCL is a major beneficiary of the returns on the Fund, fulfilling its mission to support further innovation at one of the world’s leading universities.

Let’s talk

If you’d like to find out more about commercialisation options and how the Fund works, get in touch with us.

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Our Portfolio

Learn more about the proof-of concepts, spinouts and licensing projects from the Fund.

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