Innovate UK and the London Stock Exchange join forces

Innovate UK and the London Stock Exchange have announced a pioneering partnership to equip innovation-focused businesses for scaling through accessing funding.

The ‘Invest in Innovation Partnership’ will help the UK’s most innovative companies navigate opportunities across public and private sources of funding.

It will also provide investors with a greater understanding of the future economy sectors with the highest potential for scale and impact.

By bringing together investment and innovation knowhow, the partnership aims to unlock more of the £6 trillion of long-term capital available in the UK for UK innovation and growth and capital in the form of:

  • pensions
  • insurance assets
  • retail investment

Key components

The partnership will have several key components.

Equipping companies for equity

The London Stock Exchange, working alongside the investment and advisory community, will assist Innovate UK-supported companies to understand:

  • the role of equity funding for growth
  • how to prepare for growth capital and how to access the London Stock Exchange’s markets

Knowledge exchange

The partnership will bring together leaders from research and technology organisations, high-potential scale-ups and large corporations with the institutional investor community. This will build a greater shared understanding of the opportunities in future sectors, facilities, systems and businesses.

Net zero

The partnership will support the UK’s net zero goals by helping private companies accomplish Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosures. These will be aligned with global sustainability reporting standards, yet without the complexity required by public markets.

It will also see the launch of an Innovate UK and London Stock Exchange series of deep dives aimed at informing the investment community on specific net zero technologies and opportunities.

Innovation-focused platform

The partnership commits to the launch of an innovator and innovation investor-focused channel on the London Stock Exchange’s Spark portal. The channel will celebrate and support capital-seeking companies and provide information on emerging technologies.

Minister launches partnership

The partnership was launched at an event attended by Science Minister George Freeman MP, along with leaders and contributors from the innovation and investment communities.

The Invest in Innovation Partnership has the potential to transform the prospects of businesses that are developing cutting-edge solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. It will also create long-lasting economic and societal impact.

Minister of State at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman, said:

For too long we have won the academic prize but lost the commercial industrial opportunity. Connecting the City of London to the UK’s ecosystem of high growth science and technology companies across multiple sectors, from AgriTech to MedTech to SpaceTech, is key to becoming a global hub of Innovation.

This partnership between Innovate UK and the London Stock Exchange is a vital initiative to help bring the City and UK SciTech closer together.

Forefront of innovation

Indro Mukerjee, CEO at Innovate UK, said:

This Partnership between Innovate UK and the London Stock Exchange unlocks new opportunities to accelerate innovation through scaling many of our most promising businesses.

Our shared goal is to keep the UK economy thriving and at the forefront of innovation.

With this partnership, we are well on our way to achieving that vision.

Accessing extraordinary growth potential

Julia Hoggett, CEO of London Stock Exchange plc, said:

We are delighted to enter into this partnership with Innovate UK.

It is critical that the UK direct capital to the broadest range of entrepreneurial companies throughout their lifecycle, driving the real economy and creating the jobs and the innovation that impact all our lives.

Bringing together the investor and advisory community is crucial to ensuring that innovative, growing companies have the exposure they need to the full range of funding opportunities to support their sustainable growth.

It also ensures savers and investors can access the extraordinary growth potential of companies scaling in the UK. We are delighted that the London Stock Exchange can play a role in this vital endeavour.

Further information

Find more information on the partnership and its initiatives.

Top image:  Credit: CHUNYIP WONG, iStock, Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

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