Plan your route from research to market

Innovation is often misunderstood as meaning “invention” and talked about primarily within the context of new or improved technologies. 

When talking to academics and researchers, however, I prefer to focus on innovation as being the process of taking an idea from fundamental research all the way through to it having a real societal and financial value. 

The journey from research to impact is not exclusive to STEM; it encompasses everything from deeptech discoveries like graphene or quantum computing, to virtual reality simulations for education, to changes in clinical nursing practices that affect thousands of patients.

When colleagues ask how to best bridge the gap between academic research and real-world applications, my answer always starts with a fundamental principle: real impact drives returns, so focus on the impact first. 

Protect or publish?

For any academic starting this journey from research to impact, the first hurdle is solving the conundrum of protecting before you publish. Academics are under immense pressure to publish to advance their careers, but once a discovery is in the public domain, the opportunity for patent protection is gone. 

My advice is to speak with your university’s innovation or grant support office early – before you write up the results of your experiment or grant – to determine if you have something worth protecting. Many universities do follow up on grant milestones to review if anything protectable has been developed, so engage as early as possible.

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While the research may be ground-breaking, it is crucial that academics and institutions work together to identify objectively if there is a genuine market need. The most critical step researchers often miss is validating this market need, or more simply asking: “Will anyone pay for this?” 

Institutions can support you with valuable industry experience and specialist knowledge in areas such as protecting your intellectual property (IP), but remember it is you that is at the cutting edge of your field, which means no one knows the potential market better than you do (even if you do not believe this). 

When you attend conferences, do not just speak to other academics; engage with the companies presenting there. Ask them what they are currently using to solve the problems your technology addresses. If your technology is a fundamental platform, ask what value they see in such a technology. These conversations are infinitely more informative than any internal brainstorming session and will help you, and your Technology Transfer Office (TTO), define a clear roster of potential industry or civic partners. Make sure you understand first how to hold these conversations without revealing anything valuable that has not been protected.

The next step is choosing your personal path to impact, which often comes down to deciding whether you license your innovation to others or take it further yourself by spinning out your own company. There are two primary routes forward, and the choice is essentially one of risk versus returns.

Licensing your work: pros and cons

If you wish to remain a career academic, licensing is a less risky path. The university files the IP and seeks industrial partners to take the technology to market while you continue your research, perhaps receiving a royalty cheque if the partner makes money from your invention. There is no career risk to you, but the potential returns are much smaller, and you have given all control on how your technology is commercialised to a third party.

Spin-outs: pros and cons

Spinning out is a riskier path, but offers much higher potential returns, both financial and in terms of your professional and personal growth. Be prepared: nine out of 10 spin-outs fail. You choose this route because you want control over the innovation you have spent years developing and want to see it make a tangible difference in the real world, and you aim to dedicate your life to see this happening. 

Not every academic wants to become a CEO. Academic founders do not have to be CEOs, but they can still play a key role in companies, say, as expert advisers, even while retaining their academic careers.

Many institutions, including King’s, now have innovation environments set up to support those who choose to spin out. We have moved away from older models, where the university was a passive shareholder, to a founder-friendly equity model that goes beyond government guidance. 

The role of the university

We support our founders to keep their academic position while spending time in their company. After all, we understand that those that actively run their spin-out are the ones taking all the risk to commercialise something that may bring returns to King’s. To give our founders the best chance of success, we provide deep, expert support programmes – particularly in digital health and medical devices – that offer entrepreneurial training and help our academics find partners, co-founders and investors.

A key benefit of this kind of institutional support is that it works to remove risk for investors. We know that, in today’s market, venture capital is harder to secure, and investors have become increasingly risk averse, wanting to see a clear path to success. Execution is key. The best thing a university can do is put its own skin in the game. By providing resources, promoting each venture, and actively and visibly backing the founders, institutions can reduce perceived and real risk, making each company a much more investable proposition.

Through this committed and visible support across the entire innovation and entrepreneurship journey, at King’s we aim to take research fostered within the university from the first spark of an idea to global impact; ultimately, fulfilling the wider mission of universities to benefit society. 

Nicolas Huber is the interim director of King’s Innovation Catalyst and chief operations officer for the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering at King’s College London.

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