View from the BVCA North America Roadshow – the opportunity for spinouts

We were delighted to join the BVCA’s North American road trip in February 2025. It was an excellent opportunity to showcase the strength of the UK’s research and innovation ecosystem to an audience of North American LPs.

Both the US and the UK boast four of the world’s top ten universities. However, nearly 70% of spin-out funding goes to the US, while just over 10% supports the commercialisation of UK spin-outs. This signals a significant amount of untapped potential in the UK.

We believe the UK has reached a critical inflection point. Universities are evolving rapidly, becoming more founder-friendly, and fostering a stronger entrepreneurial spirit among staff and students. A striking example: this year for the first time, more UCL graduates aspire to launch a startup than pursue any other career path. At the same time, a first generation of experienced, exited founders from successful Deeptech startups – such as DeepMind and ARM – is reinvesting in the ecosystem, bringing invaluable expertise and talent.

The LPs we spoke with were particularly interested in the approach we’ve developed at Albion. By engaging with early-stage prototype businesses as they form in universities, we help founders access top talent, develop their entrepreneurial skills, secure fast, flexible capital that enables them to scale quickly and connect with the broader venture ecosystem.

This approach is unlocking innovations that might otherwise remain confined to the lab, creating a unique pipeline of Deeptech businesses with the potential to become global category leaders. In a crowded GP market, LPs are seeking differentiation and a winning strategy—this resonated strongly with them.
 

Authored by David Grimm
Partner, Albion