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WORLD LEADING BUSINESS SUPPORT
An accelerated programme of support for teams from the partner universities of the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) with commercially promising biofilm innovations.
Applications are currently closed.
Validate the market for products or services that utilise your research
Apply for funding of up to £20k for market validation
Sector specific support programme
Access to an ecosystem of research institutes, investors and businesses from the sector
Expert feedback and guidance at the end of your Sprint journey
Funded by the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) and delivered by SETsquared, the Biofilms ICURe Sprint is an accelerated version of the Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) programme, dedicated solely to research teams developing biofilm innovations.
The programme will support teams led by university Early Career Researchers/Entrepreneurial Lead/post-doctoral researcher or PhD researcher to determine whether there is an international biofilms market for products or services that utilise their research, science, or technology. Up to £20k of funding is available to ‘get out of the lab’ and validate these commercially promising ideas in the marketplace.
It will leverage an ecosystem of businesses, investors, corporates, and translational research centres to deliver this intensive market discovery programme in approximately two months.
Discover the current projects taking part in Biofilms ICURe Sprint.
It supports the research team’s Early Career Researcher (ECR)/Entrepreneurial Lead/post-doctoral researcher or PhD researcher to undertake approximately two months of full-time, intensive market assessment to validate the commercial potential of the team’s innovation.
ICURe Sprint accelerates the market discovery stage by enhancing the involvement of significant players in the relevant sectors to provide mentoring and contacts, industry representatives to outline the challenges they face, and key applied research centres from the NBIC partner universities.
The programme utilises lean start-up methodology and Strategyzer’s business model canvas tools to develop a customer discovery journey and test what potential customers want in relation to the benefits the research could bring.
In addition, the ECR’s++ will receive training and interview practice, carrying out over 100 interviews and acquiring transferrable business and social skills.
Read our key dates and expectations to find out more.
The suggested options for commercialisation pathways can include carrying out further public or private sponsored research, exploring licensing opportunities and/or seeking public or private funding for spin-out (for those projects that have demonstrated strong market potential by the end of the market validation).
Ideas should seek to address biofilm challenges in sectors including, but not limited to:
For the full team descriptions and requirements, as well as eligible expenditures and expectations, please read the Guidance for Applicants.
Before applying, we advise you to take a look at the application template to understand what information is required.
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