UK government bodies join together with $5m fund to support tech transfer efforts taking place inside incubator SetSquared.

UK Government bodies Innovate UK and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) are set to collaborate with university incubator SetSquared on a £3.2m ($5m) project aimed at facilitating tech transfer.

Dubbed iCure, the pilot project is a response from the UK government to issues highlighted in a House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee report last year on how to assist early-stage university companies in crossing the valley of death.

The programme will provide training, mentoring, and funds to bolster tech transfer at SetSquared’s partner universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton, and Surrey. HEFCE provided £2.8m of the total, while Innovation UK, formerly the Technology Strategy Board, provided a further £400,000.

Announcing the fund, Greg Clark MP, minister for universities and science, said: “Collaboration is the key to turning the best research into new businesses. We are proud that SetSquared is already Europe’s best incubator, and second in the world, which is why we are supporting this pilot scheme. It will provide skills, support and mentoring to help the UK’s best researchers turn their ideas into commercial success.”