Funding opportunities
The Rainbow Seed Fund, established in 2001 with funding from the Office of Science and Innovation to commercialise scientific research in a group of UK publicly funded institutions, has been awarded a £1.5 million share of the UK Government’s Public Sector Research Exploitation (PSRE) fund following a bid led by the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The award will support the very early stages of business formation from ideas emerging out of scientific breakthroughs and research.
Bruce Smith, Chairman of Rainbow Seed Fund's advisory board, said, “Our progress to date is clear evidence that the science carried out in UK public research institutes has real commercial potential. Rainbow Seed Fund works hard to turn ideas into businesses, and this award will allow us to bring together experienced entrepreneurs and first class technology in an even more effective fashion. We look forward to continuing to play a key role in this value creation.”
Tim Bestwick, Chief Executive of CLIK Knowledge Transfer, STFC’s wholly owned technology transfer and commercialisation company, said: “As a lead partner in Rainbow Seed Fund, STFC is delighted that its performance so far has been recognised by the PSRE fund with this award. Without such backing and support in the early stages, commercial opportunities arising from scientific discoveries and new technologies can easily be lost.”
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