While the world has always been in the middle of one technological transition or another, the present moment feels pivotal, with rapid advances in fields such as AI, clean energy, precision medicine, quantum technology and space unfolding even as the world becomes more volatile. And London is unusually well placed to shape these next waves of technology.
Breakthroughs in science and engineering emerging from the capital’s world-leading scientific institutions will strengthen London’s competitive edge and ensure this technological change delivers broad societal benefits. In AI, for instance, architectures based on new mathematical approaches could ensure that AIs are trustworthy even in high-stakes applications, while AI paired with new kinds of hardware for data collection is promising to make industries such as pharma and chemicals more resilient.
For Imperial College London, London Tech Week is a chance to demonstrate that we’re not just a provider of talent, skills development and expertise to the London tech community but are an integral part of it. This role is taking shape through initiatives such as WestTech London, a world-class innovation ecosystem that runs from South Kensington through to London’s western fringe. Drawing on Imperial’s founding mission “to be useful”, WestTech London is leveraging Imperial’s assets in Albertopolis in South Kensington, Paddington Life Sciences, the White City Innovation District and Old Oak Innovation Cluster to make London even stronger at creating and scaling deep technologies based on fundamental science.
A thriving entrepreneurial culture, which we have fostered at Imperial through our entrepreneurship hub the Enterprise Lab, is helping new entrepreneurs gain the confidence they need to experiment and learn. This has been so successful that we’ve recently taken its pioneering programme WE Innovate from London across the country to address a nationwide gender gap that’s hindering economic growth.
The right tech transfer support is helping London take full advantage of the science coming out of our academic labs. According to a new report by the Royal Academy of Engineering, Imperial and other London universities are among the best in Europe for spinout growth, and we have been recognised in the UK Government’s independent review of UK spinout companies as leading sector-wide best practice in technology transfer, with terms and equity stakes that set spinouts up for success.
London is tightly packed with brilliance, and this creates amazing network effects, but also means that innovation space comes at a premium. At Imperial, our spaces start from the Imperial Incubator, a first home for lab-based businesses, through to Grapht Works, a space for pilot-scale advanced manufacturing that’s allowing deep tech ventures to scale close to home. Our campuses also host shared technical facilities in fields like synthetic biology, analytical science and materials that are helping ventures gain proofs of concept they need to grow.
A final key ingredient for deep tech innovation and growth is funding, and improving the UK investment environment is a nationwide challenge. We are helping to address it through funding programmes designed to help close early-stage investment gaps, a skills development programme for VCs, and a dedicated team that connects Imperial startups with investors. We’re also working on plans to bring a major injection of new capital to help Imperial companies to get off the ground and scale.
The innovation ecosystem we’re spearheading, WestTech London, builds on west London’s particular strength in high-value industries, higher education and its talent pool. It already hosts 1,000 frontier innovation businesses with £9 billion turnover, and analysis from WPI Economics predicts by 2030 this will increase to at least 1,900 businesses and £26 billion, making frontier innovation in WestTech London larger than in the rest of London combined.
I’m excited to see the progress of innovation in the capital at London Tech Week this year. Our presence at this year’s event will see us catch up with old friends, build new links, and share news of our latest developments. Most of all, I can’t wait to explore how we can work together to expand London’s position as a deep tech powerhouse.
Find out where and when to meet teams from Imperial at London Tech Week.