INSIGHTS / News

Investors, university commercialisation teams, and legal professionals gathered in London this week for the launch of Phase 1 of the Deal Readiness Toolkit, a new, open-access resource developed to accelerate and simplify the commercialisation of university research.

Created by the SETsquared Partnership, in collaboration with legal experts and investors and funded by Research England, the Toolkit offers a comprehensive set of standardised templates, checklists, and practical guides. It is designed to support all stakeholders in the research commercialisation journey, from academic founders to technology transfer offices and venture investors.

Diana Galpin, Director of Enterprise and Knowledge Exchange, University of Southampton: “When we started the project, our goal was to harmonise research commercialisation across the SETsquared Partnership to create a more consistent, investor and founder-friendly experience and accelerate the path from innovation to market. Along the way, it became clear that this approach could benefit the wider sector.

“By creating the Toolkit, we aim to streamline deal-making, reduce barriers, and make the commercialisation process faster and more predictable, so that groundbreaking products and services can reach the market sooner. It’s an open-access resource, and we encourage technology transfer teams, investors and academic founders to explore the Toolkit and give us feedback so that we can iterate and fine-tune over the next few months.”

Currently in a pilot phase, the Toolkit marks the beginning of a comprehensive resource, and the event was an opportunity to release it to a wider audience of stakeholders.

Claire Pardo, General Counsel at Parkwalk Advisors Ltd, commented, “Having a clear set of standard terms and conditions that both investors and universities recognise as fair and market-aligned helps everyone feel confident early in the spin-out process. Too often, things slow down because parties are unsure whether they’re getting a fair deal.

“The Deal Readiness Toolkit is designed to give reassurance on both sides that the terms are balanced and appropriate. For investors, that means spin-outs can happen more quickly, on terms that are already accepted as normal by founders and universities alike, reducing friction and helping everyone focus on building successful ventures.”

To ensure the Toolkit is fit for purpose across all audiences, it has been co-created from the outset with legal experts, active spin-out investors, professional services firms, academics and technology transfer teams.

Nathan Guest, Corporate Partner & Head of Technology, VWV said: “It’s been a real pleasure to be involved in the development of this Toolkit, something I’ve been keen to create for quite some time. Having worked extensively with university spin-outs over the years, we’ve seen firsthand the inefficiencies that can arise without modern, standardised templates.

“Spin-outs are often delayed by complex legal processes, so we brought together a group of pragmatic, like-minded professionals, including fellow lawyers, venture capital investors, and tech transfer experts, to create a suite of high-quality template documents and playbooks. We’re confident that these resources will help accelerate the legal and investment processes, while also empowering academic founders and commercialisation teams to better navigate the legal challenges of spinning out.”

The Deal Readiness Toolkit is part of a wider IMPACT-IP programme, which also helped Early Career Researchers develop commercial acumen and technology transfer skills through a Commercialisation & Innovation Fellow scheme, backed by seasoned Entrepreneurs in Residence.

Explore Phase 1 of the Deal Readiness Toolkit