A rise in the number of spin-outs and start-up companies from the University of Nottingham has underlined its role in driving innovation and economic growth, newly released figures reveal.
The number of spin-out companies launched by the Russell Group university has grown rapidly in the last ten years, compared to the previous decade.
Between 2005 and 2015, eight spin-outs were launched, and in the decade that followed, 2015-25, this figure more than tripled, with 29 companies being added to the portfolio.
Figures from Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reveal that in addition to its spin-out companies, the university has a current portfolio of 36 staff start-ups, 135 student start-ups and seven social enterprises.
Nottingham is also second in the UK for the turnover of its student start-ups, with its student ventures bringing in more than £400 million for the year 2022/23.
The news coincides with a national campaign by Universities UK which shines a spotlight on the billions of pounds worth of local growth and investment resulting from higher-education support. Its campaign, Unis Start Up the UK, highlights how universities drive entrepreneurship across the nation, supporting new enterprises that boost growth, investment, and jobs.
Nationally since 2015, universities have helped create 38,750 companies, with a 70% rise in active firms. Student start-up turnover grew by 757%, investment by 346%, and employment by 177%, reaching 64,384 jobs in 2022-23.
“Through our expertise and know-how, combined with the world-class research that is synonymous with the University of Nottingham, we have established an eco-system that supports new start-ups and spin outs.
“Whatever the route to market, and be it led by students and staff or our commercial team, our entrepreneurial spirit and the drive to translate our research and innovation into tangible benefits for society are at the heart of everything we do.”
The University of Nottingham’s Nottingham Technology Ventures team helps turn university research into real-world solutions, through the commercialisation of intellectual property and support to founders. It currently manages a portfolio totalling almost 40 spin-out companies, which are developing cutting-edge technologies in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and the environment, digital, and materials and manufacturing.
The university, as part of the eight Midlands Innovation universities, has launched an investment fund, Midlands Mindforge Ltd. Mindforge aims to raise up to £250m to accelerate the commercialisation of the transformational technologies being developed by the spin-out portfolio, further highlighting the potential for driving economic growth across the region and beyond.
Meanwhile, the university’s Ingenuity Lab provides students and alumni with the space and resources to explore their business ideas and start their own enterprises. Based at the Ingenuity Centre on Jubilee Campus, it fosters an innovative community of entrepreneurs, working together to develop ideas, encourage radical innovation and produce exciting new start-ups. Through its Ingenuity impact programme, it has provided £1 million in seed funding to create 489 new ventures to address local social and environmental challenges.
Nottingham’s entrepreneurial graduates are also making an impact, as reflected in a study by PitchBook, a source of data, research, and insights on global capital markets. It analysed 167,000 university alumni from European universities who have successfully founded companies and raised venture capital in the last 10 years. The study revealed 175 of these founders attended the University of Nottingham – which was ranked as a top 10 university in Europe.
