VentureVersity is bridging the gap between academia and the business world. It’s a new funded collaboration between Leicester, Loughborough and De Montfort Universities plus the wider local entrepreneurial community, and we want to help turn more academic ideas into commercial reality via spinouts and business collaborations.

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 program culminated in a showcase session on November 27th, where the 11 projects reunited to present their progress and future plans to an audience of over 100 attendees.