Your Journey To Commercialisation
From the initial spark of an idea to a sustainable venture, we'll navigate the pathway to leave a positive and lasting impact on the world.
Why embark on research commercialisation?
There are many more benefits than well-deserved recognition and profit-making.
Commercialisation can improve public health, enhance quality of life, and address important societal challenges. As well as stimulating economic growth, it creates jobs and attracts investment by establishing new industries and fostering entrepreneurship. It facilitates the transfer of knowledge from academia to industry, promoting collaboration and practical application of research. In some cases, it can even create additional revenue streams which can be reinvested in further research.
But let’s not jump too far ahead. Depending on your idea and goals, the process can take many shapes. Start-up, social enterprise, or partnering with a company to license your research – there are many options and you don’t need to have everything figured out right now.
We’ll help you decide on the right path to maximise both impact and value – all in the most sustainable way possible.
You Initiate
Let’s figure out how your project can make an impact outside the lab. Simply fill in the secure form below, providing us with a high-level description of your concept. Our experts will get back to you with valuable advice on how to propel it forward. Sit back and relax, knowing your idea is in good hands.
We Protect
To formally kick off the commercialisation process (and most importantly protect your idea), we’ll invite you to submit an Invention Disclosure Form. Together, we’ll develop an intellectual property strategy that will deliver the right level of protection.
We Empower
We’re here to help you succeed. We’ll guide you towards market validation programmes and accelerators relevant to your project. These opportunities enable you to fine-tune your offering and acquire essential skills to attract long-term investment.
We Commercialise
Once your project has been properly protected and commercially validated, we’ll work together to identify the most suitable commercialisation opportunities. These can vary depending on your project and market demands. Whether that involves licensing your work or launching a spinout, we’ll be there to offer advice and support.
Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
At STRIDE, we support businesses, organisations and government to ensure they are making measurable improvements in people’s health, wellbeing and educational outcomes. We do this using evidence, methodological skills and international experience.
I started out with a PhD in psychology and moved into education about 15 years ago when I joined the Centre for Effective Education at Queen’s University Belfast. We were involved in a lot of social programme evaluation and development work in communities facing disadvantages nationally and internationally. We had particular recognition for our expertise conducting randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluations of social programmes.
I knew that our voice was needed to tell the story of how to use evidence to create positive social impact as well as share our expertise from researching social impact programmes but I didn’t really know how to enter the corporate world with that story. In 2021, I was selected to take part into Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator programme. This programme has been very helpful for us to understand and access the thinking within corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental social governance (ESG) context.
STRIDE was launched in 2015 and is now made up of a team of 8 consultants working together to increase the amount of funding flowing from business and corporations into well designed and evaluated social programmes. We are now offering high level consultancy support and expertise to the business/CSR community and social impact/ESG investors.
Arts & Humanities ideas are impactful.
“We are at the frontier of commercialising social science research by supporting clients in the use of evidence to improve people’s lives.”
Dr Liam O'Hare
Principal Research Fellow, Founder & CEO of Stride
Medicine, Health & Life Sciences
GenoME Diagnostics is a spin-out company from the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen’s University Belfast. It focuses on the development of novel tests for early detection of diseases, using an affordable and scalable platform.
“GenoME Diagnostics” is based on almost a decade of academic research in the PGJCCR at Queen’s University Belfast, and was accepted onto ICURe in September 2019. Our first product in development is a novel blood test for earlier detection of ovarian cancer. The ICURe program allowed us to conduct market validation of our ovarian cancer test, customer discovery and network with key opinion leaders across the globe. This included tradeshows in Japan, San Diego and Germany, and conferences and meetings in Spain, UK, Ireland and San Francisco. The findings of these meetings and activities were presented at the options roundabout in December 2019, with the panel voting to recommend establishing a spin-out company.
GenoME Diagnostics was successfully awarded Innovate UK and ICURe follow-on funding in March 2021, which enabled us to establish the spin-out, make first hires, acquire our own equipment and consumables, and begin technical and commercial development. Furthermore, following this Innovate UK success, GenoME Diagnostics were crowned the ‘All Ireland Best New Start Company’ by Intertrade Ireland in 2020, successfully closing a pre-seed round of £300k in 2021, with backing from QUBIS (the commericalisation arm of QUB), Clarendon Fund Managers managing Co-Fund NI, and Deepbridge Capital. We also received a ‘Women in Innovation’ Award by Innovate UK in 2022.
To enable the company to grow and scale, bring our ovarian test to market and continue platform development, we have raised a second Seed-Plus round of funding for £1.4M. This is leveraged with a Biomedical Catalyst collaborative grant with QUB for the pancreatic cancer development.”
Medical Ideas are impactful
“The ICURe programme was invaluable to GenoME Diagnostics in beginning our commericalisation journey, and we are very excited for what is to come for GenoME in the future.”
Dr Shannon Beattie
CEO GenoME Diagnostics
Our Services
The We Invent team can provide support throughout your journey to commercialisation, and beyond. Plug into the expertise of our people and all the essential services required to succeed.
Intellectual Property Protection
Any creative work, including outputs from university research, can have commercial value. IP protection involves legal measures to safeguard rights over your creative works and prevents any unauthorised use by other individuals or entities.
Market Discovery Programmes
To launch a sustainable business, it’s essential to assess your product-market fit and receive feedback on your business readiness. Our pre-accelerator programmes will refine and validate your project’s commercial potential.
IP Licensing
Our team of licensing experts is dedicated to supporting you throughout the entire licensing journey. Count on us for guidance on licensing options, contract negotiations or timely dividend payments. We’re here to help.
Spinout Support
QUB has an outstanding track record of success in creating UK spinouts. Our companies excel in longevity, investment acquisition and rapid scale-up compared to most other start-ups in Northern Ireland.
Funding Access
The funding ecosystem can be tricky to navigate. Alongside our internal resources, our own investment body and our close network with the investor community, you’ll also tap into our range of specialist tools to identify alternative sources of sustainable funding.
The Numbers
109
live licenses
1000+
live patents
90+
spinouts