The University of Southampton’s “triple helix strategy” is an institutional approach that has research-education-enterprise distinctively intertwined, embedding enterprise and entrepreneurial excellence across our culture and programmes, achieving greater impact and accelerating new ways to tackle the world’s most complex problems. The Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise Strategic Plan ensures that the enterprise vision set out in our University Strategy stays on target and delivers against our institutional KPIs and has gained considerable traction this last year.  

We have an entrepreneurial study body; 34.9 % of all our students express entrepreneurial intent of some kind. 15 months after graduation, students that have engaged in our extra-curricular enterprise support achieve 10% higher positive graduate outcomes than the university average. From August 2024 to July 2025 our Student Enterprise Team supported 2,212 students and alumni with their enterprise skills development and new business ideas, with engagement increasing at a rate of 24% year on year. In June 2024 a versatile and innovative new city centre student and alumni co-working space called The Student Enterprise Junction was launched. £89k is awarded directly to students every year to fund the development of their businesses.   

The Future Worlds on-campus tech startup accelerator for staff and students supported startups that have raised more than £23m of funding (equity and grant) over 2024/25. It co-leads a national silicon photonics programme with the Optoelectronics Research Centre and Cornerstone, bridging research and industry through Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) support, and is launching an AI accelerator with Responsible AI UK. 

The University of Southampton Science Park accommodates over 90 companies (15% originate from the University) in 19 buildings and delivers the Catalyst business acceleration programme, with over 85% of start-ups supported still active with over £200 million raised. 

As a founding member of the SETsquared partnership we deliver the national iCURE SETsquared programme, a pre-accelerator course for researchers, funded by Innovate UK, which has supported over 500 teams to date. This year, in partnership with SETsquared, the University has created a ‘deal readiness toolkit’, supporting the essential stages in licensing and spin-out creation, made open source for global impact. 

Our Successful Futures project (launched November 2024), has developed a university-wide framework for employability and enterprise skills, mapped across all 565 degree programmes to enable students to take more control in the acquisition of, reflection on, and articulation of their enterprise skills.  

Staff are rewarded for their enterprise activity through our distinct Enterprise Career Pathway. The University’s consultancies and testing units also benefit the external and student community. Faculties have established innovation hubs, including the Future Towns Innovation Hub for ‘place’ innovation; the School of Healthcare Enterprise and Innovation, championing healthcare innovations for social change and economic benefits; and the Winchester School of Art Exchange, offering services to help transform society. 

This flourishing ecosystem demonstrates what can be achieved with clear institutional leadership and commitment to the triple helix approach, enabling forward-thinking strategic major projects, HR policies, financial modelling, educational developments and investment in people and infrastructure, encouraging and enabling enterprising and innovative approaches across the institution.