Entrepreneurship, industry and commercialisation

Introducing Helix Innovations, one of FLFDevNet’s program partners

UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellows are the next generation of the UK’s academic research community. Every one of the 205 FLFs and 38 UKRI-named Researchers who take part in the FLF Development Network will have their own particular journey. But many of those will want to explore entrepreneurship, industry and commercialisation as options.

The FLF Development Network, in Partnership with HelixHub, are pleased to announce that all FLFs and participating researchers have the opportunity from Oct 2021 to find their ‘inner entrepreneur’ by participating in a suite of short commercialisation programmes which will start with Lean Start Foundation training and simple introductory session right up to a full market exploration programme called the Lean Launch Programme.

The Lean Start Foundation session will introduce many of the most basic business and entrepreneurship concepts so that all participants get to grips which the language and mindsets of the business world in a friendly and supportive environment and where peer learning and hands-on learning by doing is the overall approach. Whereas, the Lean Launch Programme is intended to help those with a realistic commercial proposition to start the journey to take their research/ technology to market.

So why should researchers engage in a suite of workshops like these? In simple terms a high percentage of successful British businesses are underpinned and driven by world class research that has emerged from the UK’s world renowned education sector and sadly some brilliant research ideas with outstanding commercial potential withered on the vine simply for a lack of understanding from the person or persons who developed the research. These sessions aim to take the fear out of the commercialisation journey and support those FLFs and ECRs who wish to explore this space while respecting the fact that only a small number of FLFs will want to ever start their own business.

This will be a completely new world of intellectual discovery for most FLFs; previous participants of the Lean Launch and ICURe have said they have found to be a great support to their careers.