Alastair Kilgour
You probably know of some successful university spinouts – companies founded to commercialise innovative ideas that originate from academic research. But where do the funds come from? Parkwalk Advisors, co-founded by Alastair Kilgour, invests around £50 million a year, making them the largest investor in the early stages of this space.
Talking to Alastair, you’d think being an entrepreneur is in his DNA. However, his confident nature and in-depth knowledge result from years of experience and attentiveness to what’s happening in the world, as well as a major pivot which changed the direction of his career completely.
Alastair studied biochemistry at the University of Surrey as an undergraduate. As part of his degree, he spent time working with a German pharmaceutical company. While he admits he was “a bit bored”, it provided a revelation that altered his perspective. He explains: “I remember being called into the director’s office. There was this diagram on the wall with a hierarchy of all the people at the company. I realised then it was going to take me a long time to get to the top this way.”
Alastair finished his degree but the economic situation at the time meant roles in this field were few and far between. He picked up some books written by business leaders and gurus and felt instantly inspired. A business degree seemed like the perfect way to pivot his career. He applied to study MSc Management Science (now the MBA) at Imperial – and he never looked back.
Success in the City
Alastair describes the course as “very practical” and benefited from his lecturers’ industry connections. After studying at Imperial, he felt ready to take on the world. But everyone knows that the journey to success is rarely smooth. He recalls: “I had about 70 job rejections.” To this day, those rejection letters are still stashed away in a box, serving as a reminder of the challenges he faced.
Despite the rejections, he did secure a small handful of job offers. One of these was to work in the City, the financial and commercial heart of London. Alastair continues: “This was 1981. The 70s had been tough and the economy was only just beginning to recover. I was really lucky in terms of timing, but I had no contacts in this area, and it was a step into the unknown.” And that’s how Alastair’s career started.
Alastair worked as a pharmaceutical and chemical analyst for a stockbroker. This was during the first wave of biotech, so companies were looking to raise more money. Of course, because of his undergraduate degree, he was perfectly placed to succeed. He remembers the currency controls in the UK being removed and this opening a world of opportunity for investors.
Starting his own business
Always on the hunt for a new challenge, he soon left this brokerage and went to a new start-up brokerage. Then, in the early 90s, he made the move to Lazard, a leading international financial advisory and asset management firm. Here, he became a global partner and Head of European Capital Markets until 2004.
Sitting with a former Lazard colleague, Moray Wright, in 2009, everything changed again. They discussed how the government would need to rebuild the economy post-crash. Alastair and his colleague agreed that a lot of this investment would be in technology. And where was this technology? In universities.
By this time, we’d had good careers in the City. We both had a good network of people who might back our vision. We wanted to try and help university technology spinouts by doing something that would use our experience to fund their innovations and help them develop.
Alastair and Moray thought it would be a win-win for everyone involved. And as he says, “that was that” – Parkwalk Advisors was born. He remembers giving a specialist magazine an interview about their vision. Alastair shares: “It was surprisingly easy for people to understand and get on board with, so we did what we needed to get things started.”
Alastair alongside Parkwalk Advisors co-founder, Moray Wright at one of their investments, Oxbotica
Alastair alongside Parkwalk Advisors co-founder, Moray Wright at one of their investments, Oxbotica
£50 million of investing a year
Together they visited the larger universities, including Imperial, to talk to their technology transfer offices. He explains: “Back in 2009, universities were mainly licensing technology to bigger firms as opposed to forming companies of their own.”
VCs would cherry-pick the odd spinout, but the tech transfer offices needed to spin out a cohort of companies. We saw our funds as a solution to this issue as well as a means of involving alumni and those close to the university.
Today, their funds are investing around £50 million a year, making Parkwalk Advisors the largest investor in the early stages of this space. The business runs four dedicated funds with the tech transfer offices of Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol University, as well as Imperial, who have independent investment committees making the investment decisions. Parkwalk Advisors make the investment decisions on their main fund.
Alastair Kilgour giving a talk for Parkwalk Advisors
Alastair Kilgour giving a talk for Parkwalk Advisors
£500 million total investment
Parkwalk Advisor’s funds come from high-net-worth individuals, invested under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). The organisation has been instrumental in working with HMRC to get the rules of this scheme to favour investment in tech. Their success has led them to become the largest EIS Fund in the UK.
We have invested over £500 million into this space. We have returned over £150 million in cash to our underlying investors, which is on top of any tax breaks. We have invested in over 180 companies, of which over 140 are live. Our portfolio companies have employed over 5,400 people in the UK tech space.
Parkwalk Advisors itself employs 23 people (including three Imperial alumni). All investments are designed to make a societal impact, whether that is in life sciences, software, material or another area leveraging technology.
Advice to budding entrepreneurs
Recently, Alastair made the decision to step back from the day-to-day operations at Parkwalk Advisors. However, he’s still on the board of several of the investments. The business has been left in the safe hands of Moray, who is now the CEO.
Reflecting on his career, Alastair says: “I was very lucky. The world that young people are graduating into is quite different now. You do have to exude a level of confidence though. That’s one thing all founders have in common. Good communication is very useful too.”
His advice for budding entrepreneurs is straightforward:
Have a clear vision of what you are trying to achieve. It should be simple to articulate to all potential stakeholders.
Alastair says he also thinks when making decisions it’s important to go with your instinct as to what is the right thing. It’s a lesson he’s learnt from his own experiences.
Time at Imperial
How was Imperial different back when he was a student? Alastair says: “It was obviously a lot smaller than it is today. When I was there, everything was based around the South Kensington Campus. I used to play water polo, and the swimming pool was just across the road. We also played soccer in Hyde Park.”
We set up a soccer team and used to play on Sunday mornings. A number of the players were students from my course, and it kept us in touch. I played my last game with them when I was around 52! It’s just one example of the camaraderie of Imperial students.
Alastair still fondly remembers academics who taught his course. In particular, the late Professor Eilon, a prominent figure throughout his 37 years at Imperial. Alastair recalls being impressed by his industry links which he used to bring the course to life.
The 1981 Management Science football team at their inaugural fixture in Hyde Park.
The 1981 Management Science football team at their inaugural fixture in Hyde Park.
Alastair returned to Imperial in 2008, just before starting Parkwalk Advisors. He explains: “I came back to Imperial and did a module called Valuing Intellectual Property, then part of the MBA course. This was one of the things that got me interested in university spinouts. The courses offered to alumni are fantastic – the teaching energised me and what I learnt influenced what I did next.”
Alastair has come full circle, with Parkwalk Advisors investing in Imperial spinouts. This means he still has insight into what’s going on which he wouldn’t otherwise have. He says: “I’m proud of what Imperial does, what it produces and what the university does for mankind. The scientific breakthroughs coming out of Imperial are unique. I get to watch them evolving and it makes me proud.”
Enabling change
When he heard he was a recipient of the award, he was surprised. He says: “Imperial in my mind is about scientific advancement. I would expect an award to go to a prominent academic who has done something that will change the lives of people around the world.”
However, Alastair admits he hopes he’s played a small part in making that change happen: “I’ve helped lots of people get started doing things that will hopefully achieve something amazing.”
Alastair has been fundamental to the extraordinary success of Parkwalk Advisors. His vision, energy and diligence have transformed the UK early-stage technology investment landscape, and I believe he deserves the recognition that winning this award represents.
Imperial's Alumni Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of our alumni community and the variety of ways they are making a real impact across the globe.
The Alumni Entrepreneur Award recognises and celebrates innovative and creative alumni entrepreneurs who can demonstrate commercial success, growth and impact.
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