Happy 21st
Birthday, Sussex
Innovation
Centre
To celebrate its ‘coming of age’
the SIC hosted an open house
In September, Sussex Innovation Centre
celebrated its 21st birthday. The Centre
is based on the Falmer campus of the
University of Sussex, and was one of
only a handful of university-affiliated
innovation centres in the UK when it
opened in 1996.
The Centre was built with a
combination of public and p rivate
investment back then, and quickly
became the go-to place for entrepreneurs
and growing companies in the region.
In 2008, it became a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the University, and
subsequently has taken a more active
role in helping to bring academic
research into the commercial realm.
Sussex Innovation Centre
opens its doors to celebrate
21 successful years
Mike Herd – who has been the
Executive Director for the last 20 years
- described its role as “creating a
supportive environment and a
community that helps people gain
the confidence to grow a business.”
To celebrate its ‘coming of age’, Sussex
Innovation Centre hosted an open house
event, giving guests the opportunity to
get hands-on with some of the most
interesting ideas being worked on by its
community of start-ups, scale-ups, and
academics. The guest list was made up
Happy 5th Birthday,
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Launch of ‘Five Years of Innovation with Impact’ activity review
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC),
the open innovation campus driving
collaboration to improve healthcare, is
marking its fifth birthday with the launch
of an activity review, ‘Five Years of
Innovation with Impact’.
Following developments since 2011,
the publication draws a vibrant picture of
the UK’s first open innovation biomedical
campus through figures, case studies,
and testimonials. The report, which is
available on the website, shows how SBC
The Bioscience Catalyst
has created a vibrant
scientific community
R e a d o n l i n e at: u k s pa . o r g . u k / b r e a k t h r o u g h
of investors, business leaders, and
dignitaries from local government and
academia, as well as members of the
Sussex Innovation network from Croydon,
where the organisation opened a sister
site in 2015. Guests for the evening could
step into the different offices, where
Sussex Innovation members presented
fun, interactive displays of products. ■
For more on Sussex Innovation Centre
visit sinc.co.uk
has delivered on its vision of becoming
a world-leading hub for life sciences
activity. Highlights include case studies
of the University of Cambridge innovation
hub at SBC, the open innovation
neurodegenerative disease challenge,
and cell and gene therapy activities on
campus. Companies featured include
Plasticell, Aglaris, and SBC alumnus
Avacta Life Sciences.
Also in the report, SBC’s founder
stakeholders GSK and Wellcome highlight
the incubator’s impact.
“Since being established five years
ago, the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
and the many scientists involved have
created a vibrant scientific community
at Stevenage, which has been a key part
of a growing open innovation network,”
according to GSK.
“Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst offers
the collaborative environment essential
for innovator-entrepreneurs to transform
discoveries into treatments and products
to improve our lives,” Wellcome notes. ■
For more information visit
stevenagecatalyst.com
W INTE R 2 0 17 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 5 7