@article{6a05208f3b1b40c1a8879b5d1ea7ca51,
title = "The role of the university entrepreneurial ecosystem in entrepreneurial finance: case studies of UK innovation knowledge centres",
keywords = "Entrepreneurial finance, entrepreneurship support, innovation universities, policy appraisal, science and technology ecosystem",
author = "Robyn Owen and Vedanthachari, {Lakshmi Narasimhan} and Javed Hussain",
note = "Funding Information: QUB{\textquoteright}s original IKC plan focused on providing a small amount of incubation space for cyber security software start-ups and early scale-ups and was superseded by the IKC{\textquoteright}s leading role in LORCA (£13 m) a UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) funded London lab accelerator programme. This has given QUB{\textquoteright}s IKC far wider national presence and access into London{\textquoteright}s global tech skills to provide an industry leading accelerator. CSIC mainly relied upon existing older technology – describing their activities as translation via “TRL 7–9 know-how demonstration”, instead of collaborating with Cambridge labs. However, our company interview evidence found that they use Cambridge University{\textquoteright}s labs, such as the Maxwell Centre, to test physical materials science and engineering. This facility was built in 2016 at the cost of circa £70 m, of which £21 m was funded by UKRPIF. It enables enterprises to conduct research, over short-term, especially at early-stage of exploration. Silicon Microgravity (SMG) was a small business that benefited from cross-cutting interdisciplinary lab work. Their collaboration with CSIC started when the centre relocated within the civil engineering department. SMG{\textquoteright}s initial project for acceleration and gyro sensors for autonomous vehicles was, through CSIC collaboration, also developed to map buildings and underground pipes. Funding Information: The case of SMG and CSIC illustrates the benefits of sharing state of the art technology to enable SMEs, which otherwise will not be able, to translate their ideas into practice. The same view is supported by SynbiCITE. The IKC was initially restricted in lab space at their South Kensington campus to offer other researchers and businesses. However, since they acquired funds (£160 m, including £50 m UKRPIF) and relocated to West London, within a multi-disciplinary setting, they have offered more access to external researchers and businesses. In addition, they have established the White City Biofoundry, including new technology investment of £3 m. This cutting-edge technology now offers opportunity for them to test business ideas, concepts and run a full test cycle of works. The lab{\textquoteright}s 6 bench facility, with technical support and help from postdocs, has encouraged small firms to access hitech facilities to undertake research. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1080/13691066.2023.2205606",
language = "English",
journal = "Venture Capital",
issn = "1369-1066",
publisher = "Taylor and Francis Group",
}