VentureVersity
VentureVersity is bridging the gap between academia and the business world.
Established in 2024 as a pilot, VentureVersity was a collaboration between Leicester, Loughborough and De Montfort universities to help turn more academic ideas into commercial reality via spinouts and business collaborations.
Throughout 2024, a cohort of projects were selected. In early 2024, we organised three mixer sessions, which generated 38 Expressions of Interest from project leads. Of these, 26 projects were selected to participate in a pre-accelerator program held during the spring.
From that cohort, 11 projects earned a place in the commercialisation accelerator, collectively securing £225,000 in funding. Between June and November, the teams focused on validating their problem-solution fit and advancing their technologies.
The programme culminated in a showcase session on November 27, 2024, where the 11 projects reunited to present their progress and future plans to an audience of over 100 attendees. And a year later that collaboration was recognised with the team being nominated for a Knowledge Exchange Award!
Now Forging Ahead will use that success to expand the programme beyond Leicestershire and to the 15 universities across the partnership.