Last month, Imperial celebrated 18 years of incubating startups with a special showcase event in White City.

Imperial’s innovation community of entrepreneurs, academics and collaborators came together for this milestone occasion to reflect on nearly two decades of fostering early-stage science-based startups.

Established in 2006, Imperial’s incubator was created to bridge the gap between academia and the commercial world by providing the right environment for spinouts and startups to thrive. 

The Incubator stems from a founding mission at Imperial to be useful, and it goes back 18 years ago with the establishment of a bio-incubator at our South Kensington campus. If we think our White City Campus is pioneering and leading the way now, I think the same can be said of Imperial back in 2006. Dr Simon Hepworth

There were some nostalgic moments as we looked back on the Incubator’s history from its inception in South Kensington’s Bessemer Building to its relocation to the White City campus in 2016 - and now to its current home since 2023 in Scale Space White City.

The event centred around a panel discussion featuring entrepreneurs Barbara Domayne-Hayman, Professor Nigel Brandon (Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor of Sustainable Development in Energy), Niall Dunne and Dr Chiara Board.

• Now Entrepreneur in Residence at the Francis Crick Institute, Barbara recalled her experiences running two businesses, Stabilitech and Autifony, from Imperial’s first incubator and the critical role that access to specialised lab space played in their development
• Niall Dunne, CEO of Polymateria, recounted the company's journey from its early days in the incubator to becoming a significant industry player. He explained how the supportive ecosystem and leading-edge facilities on the White City campus provided a platform for growth
• Dr Board, founder of P. Happi and current Incubator member, shared her startup's recent successes in achieving pharmacy listings UK wide. She described how the incubator’s shared lab model has enabled them to focus on product development without the burden of high operational costs
• Professor Brandon, founder of RFC Power and Ceres Power, discussed the challenges and opportunities presented by balancing his academic role with running a startup and lessons learned from the commercialisation process

The Incubator Showcase was an action-packed blend of festivities, networking and discovery.

Following the panel discussion, there were startup graduation awards, an exhibition of Incubator members, a display of founder case studies and guided tours of the Incubator’s facilities.

By playing a pivotal role in nurturing promising startups, the Incubator has contributed to the wider success of the White City Innovation District. Since 2006, Incubator companies have raised over £1 billion in funding, in turn acting as a catalyst for job creation and attracting investment into the local area.

Moreover, the Incubator’s support is helping to protect the planet and fight disease by moving technologies forward in key areas including green energy, sustainable and advanced materials, artificial intelligence, agriculture and healthcare.