Since 1907, Imperial College London has championed innovation and entrepreneurship. These values are embedded in our mission to tackle global challenges and our commitment to making the university a leader in empowering students and staff to turn ideas into impactful ventures. Imperial’s 2024 strategy, “Science for Humanity,” reaffirms the importance of entrepreneurship to ensuring the university remains a world leader in innovation for the next 100-years.

This long-standing entrepreneurial culture makes Imperial a prime contender for the Outstanding Entrepreneurial University award and showcases our commitment to fostering entrepreneurial mindsets and supporting startups at every stage of development in a way few other institutions can match.

A Thriving Innovation Ecosystem

In recent times, Imperial’s entrepreneurial success is driven by three key initiatives: the Enterprise Lab, Advanced Hackspace, and White City Incubator. Working together, these three inter-locking platforms provide the resources and mentorship needed to bring innovative ideas to life.

      1. Enterprise Lab: Encouraging Entrepreneurial Thinking

Since its establishment in 2016, Enterprise Lab has nurtured entrepreneurial thinking among over 2,000 students, alumni and staff members annually. It has supported the creation of 224 startups, which have raised over £400 million and generated 4,000+ jobs. Over the last three years, lab-supported teams have won eight of 12 prizes at the London Mayor’s Entrepreneur competition. In 2024, the Financial Times recognised Enterprise Lab as one of Europe’s leading startup hubs.

      2. Advanced Hackspace: Empowering Innovators

Based at White City, the Advanced Hackspace offers a makerspace for experimentation, collaboration, and prototyping. Supporting over 800 projects annually, it delivers 18,000 hours of training to 3,000 users each year. By providing access to cutting-edge tools and expertise, the Hackspace empowers innovators to turn ideas into real-world, tangible products.

      3. White City Incubator: Supporting Science-Led Startups

The White City Incubator specialises in science-led startups, particularly in deep tech and wet-lab-based ventures. Since 2006, startups based here have raised over £1 billion. The incubator was named “Best Co-Working Space/Incubator” at the 2024 West London Business Awards, highlighting its role as a premier hub for scientific innovation.

Supporting Growth and Innovation

In addition to the above, Imperial’s entrepreneurial ecosystem supports founders and startups at every stage. In 2023, the university introduced Founders Choice™, a tech transfer policy offering favourable equity terms (5-10%) to academic founders. This policy allows researchers to retain more equity, encouraging both academic and commercial success.

The Imperial Venture Mentoring Service (IVMS), modelled after MIT, provides multi-perspective advice to startups. Since 2017, IVMS has supported 142 startups through the expertise of 83 mentors. By offering unconflicted guidance, IVMS helps founders navigate the complexities of building businesses.

In 2022, Imperial launched the Entrepreneurs Pledge, inspired by UC Berkeley, allowing founders to commit to future philanthropic support. So far, it has attracted 40+ pledges, reinforcing a culture of giving back amongst our entrepreneurial community.

Global Impact and Transferability

Imperial’s impact extends beyond campus through initiatives like Undaunted, a climate change accelerator. Since 2012, Undaunted has supported 175 startups, raising £1 billion. These ventures are on track to save 29 million tonnes of CO2 and reduce waste by 76 million tonnes by 2030.

The Green Tech Legal Collaborative (GTLC), in partnership with Bloomberg and top law firms, provides pro bono legal support to over 20 climate tech startups, helping them navigate legal and regulatory challenges, having given over £2m of support to date.

Nationally, the Network for Coaching and Mentoring Entrepreneurs (NCME) connects over 90 practitioners across 60 institutions, amplifying Imperial’s influence and fostering best practice in entrepreneurship education.

What Winning the Award Would Mean

Winning the Outstanding Entrepreneurial University award would be a testament to Imperial’s ongoing efforts to foster innovation and entrepreneurship – at all levels and across all stakeholders – students, staff and alumni.  It would affirm the university’s leadership in creating a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Recognition through this award would also highlight Imperial’s role in addressing the global challenges of the future – from climate change to healthcare to AI.

Winning would help us to inspire future innovators to continue pushing boundaries and demonstrate that entrepreneurship at Imperial is not just about individual success, but about making a lasting positive impact on the world and truly delivering on the promise of Science for Humanity.