ChemEng Enterprise launches website and Spinout Workshop Series

Professor Nigel Brandon, Dean, Imperial Faculty of Engineering, and Professor Sandro Macchietto, Director, ChemEng Enterprise

Browse the new refreshing site, signposting ChemEng students, staff, investors and alumni to key resources and information on ChemEng spinouts.

The ChemEng Enterprise website launch coincided with the inaugural event of the new ChemEng Enterprise Spinout Workshop Series, organised as part of the strategic support of deep-tech translation by the Department of Chemical Engineering.

The website will be the communication platform between our ChemEng enterprising researchers, staff, investors and alumni. Designed as a one-stop shop for key internal and external support resources for our aspiring entrepreneurs, it publicises the wealth of news, upcoming activities and events in the department's pioneering ChemEng Enterprise programme. Success stories from its previous and current spinouts are a highlight of the site.

The grand website reveal was attended by a large number of researchers/entrepreneurs, senior Imperial College London managers and many external invitees, from Professor Nigel Brandon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial, James Groves, Head of Investment Services at Imperial, to alum Su Ahmad, VP and Co-founder of Tego Inc and Martin Glenn, Investment Director at Parkwalk Advisors.  

The innovative Enterprise support programme launched by the Department of Chemical Engineering is turbocharging the spinning out of IP intensive tech arising from our research on energy, materials, sustainability and biotech. Professor Sandro Macchietto Director of Enterprise

On the significance of a website to showcase ChemEng Enterprise activities, Professor Sandro Macchietto, Director of ChemEng Enterprise stated: "The innovative Enterprise support programme launched by the Department of Chemical Engineering is turbocharging the spinning out of IP intensive tech arising from our research on energy, materials, sustainability and biotech. Components like its Pre-seed funding scheme, extensive advice and mentoring, support of interactions with Imperial and funders, and events like our yearly ChemEng Enterprise Day are now joined by a new ChemEng Enterprise Spinout Workshop Series.  The new dedicated website will further bring together founders, early investors, mentors, alumni and professionals with our brilliant researchers/entrepreneurs and give all mutually beneficial visibility at the earliest possible stage.

Explore the new ChemEng Enterprise site.

ChemEng Enterprise “Spinout Workshop Series”

As part of its decentralised, hands-on spinout support, ChemEng Enterprise have launched a new Spinout Workshop Series.

The workshops are intended for ChemEng academics and researchers who are in the process of launching, preparing or thinking about a spinout from their IP intensive research.

The workshops are designed to provide hands-on, practical support and guidance, as well as relevant contacts to our Chemical Engineering research community on the journey to spinout formation and beyond.

The inaugural workshop on Spinout Financing, hosted on 10 October, was extremely well attended by researchers, academics and industry colleagues, all sharing extensive knowledge on their dos and don’ts of a spinout journey. This included a practical session, chaired by an experienced lawyer, on the negotiation of the terms of a financing deal.

The next workshops in the Series are on 7 November and 28 November 2024.

ChemEng Enterprise-a rich history, an exciting present, a bright future

Translating scientific discovery and research results into applied solutions is not easy, but the Department of Chemical Engineering has a rich track record of translating its innovative research into successful deep-tech companies, including Process Systems Enterprise, the top exit from Imperial in the last 20 years (and one of the top 10 exits from any UK university in the last decade).

To further harness the value and potential of our world-leading research, Chemical Engineering launched in 2019 a strategic initiative, ChemEng Enterprise, unique within Imperial’s departments, to locally support students and staff in developing their entrepreneurship skills, talent, expertise and business formation. A number of KPIs highlight the exceptional results we are achieving: as many spinouts launched in the last 4 years as in the previous 20 with >£10m raised, 1 spinout for every £18.5m of research funding, and a long pipeline of exciting new prospects.