WIREDGOV

Ideas emerging from UK research organisations will benefit from £118 million funding to jumpstart knowledge exchange, translation and commercialisation.

The Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) supports critical early-stage translation of UK research to real impacts, which:

• transforms public services
• creates new jobs
• attracts private investment
• forges new partnerships with business and charities.

Funding allows UK teams to unlock the value of their work, including early-stage commercialisation of new technologies and advancing changes to public policy and services such as NHS clinical practice.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a government body responsible for delivering £8 billion research and innovation funding each year.

64 universities and research organisations

UKRI is investing £118 million in the latest round of IAAs to translate research across 64 universities and research organisations.

The programme, now in its 10th year, provided early-stage support to projects that are now established global businesses.

Previous IAA success stories include autonomous vehicle software leader Oxbotica that spun out of University of Oxford research in 2014 and the leading haptics and hand-tracking firm Ultraleap.

Ultraleap founder and CEO Dr Tom Carter used IAA support to commercialise his PhD research at the University of Bristol.

The company, that pioneers touchless digital interaction, now has teams of more than 150 people across its Bristol and California locations and is working with major brands including PepsiCo.

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