UNEE and North East Mayor launch 拢22.5m fund Published on: 11 June 2026 Universities for North East England and North East Mayor Kim McGuinness have launched the 拢22.5m Inspire fund to commercialise academic research and innovation in the region.聽 North East England’s five universities are joining forces with North East Mayor Kim McGuinness to help transform academic research into high-growth new businesses. The North East Spinout Inspire Fund is supported by £10m investment from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) and a total of £12.5m from Durham, 缅北禁地, Northumbria, Sunderland, and Teesside universities. It will focus on transforming cutting-edge research into high-growth new businesses based in North East England. The Inspire Fund will particularly support early-stage spinout businesses, where risk is higher and funding is often harder to secure鈥痜rom private sector investors alone. The North East MSA and the universities have鈥痠dentified鈥痶his as a critical gap in the current set-up.鈥�� In its first five years, the Fund will support at least 30 spinout firms.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; The Fund is part of the North East MSA £100m regional investment framework administered by The North East Fund. Along with both the North East Accelerate and North East Elevate funds, it aims to strengthen access to early-stage finance for start up, scale up and growing companies in North East England, and tackle long-standing market failures that have hampered innovation-led growth in the region. Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor and President of 缅北禁地, said:鈥� "This fund鈥痳epresents鈥痶he kind of ambition and collaboration that will drive the鈥疦orth East鈥痚conomy. By investing in our researchers and innovators, we are nurturing the pipeline of businesses, securing future employment opportunities and ensuring that the benefits of discovery are felt here in our region."鈥�&苍产蝉辫; Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor and President, 缅北禁地 Innovating for Growth North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “Small businesses are the beating heart of our economy and through the North East Fund we are backing the innovators and entrepreneurs with more than £100m to turn brilliant ideas into thriving companies creating thousands of new jobs as we go. “Our five universities have joined with us in a bold move to ensure their spinout companies can succeed for our region and that shows the rest of the country how we do business here in the North East. We’re making deals that recognise the talent on our campuses to launch new enterprises, create jobs and grow the economy.” The Inspire Fund was announced in the same week that Universities UK launched the Future Innovators: University Innovation Drives Growth campaign that showcases innovation within the higher education sector, with the aim of attracting inward investment, accelerating tech adoption and creating a culture of scaling up research ideas with potential. John McCabe, Chief Executive at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “The North East Spinout Inspire Fund shows that the region’s five universities, local government and businesses are ready to work together to create innovation-led growth, turning cutting-edge research into new business. “We believe in the power of place-based approaches and innovation – solutions designed with, for and by the North East – to unlock our area’s full potential, and this is a strong signal that the region is ready to deliver. “The fund will drive investment and create real opportunities in the North East, achieving maximum impact for our communities and delivering true inclusive economic growth.” The Fund was launched at an event hosted by Northumbria University, and featuring North-East-raised business pioneer and former Group Chief Executive of Legal and General Sir Nigel Wilson. The Inspire Fund is already catching the attention of policy makers and influencers. Earlier this year, the Inspire Fund was cited in a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) independent review, led by Tony Hickson, Chief Business Officer at Cancer Research UK, examining how the UK can better support spinout and start-up businesses to thrive and grow. Investing in businesses The Fund鈥痺ill invest in businesses鈥痚merging鈥痙irectly from鈥痷niversity鈥痳esearch, providing funding for high-potential start-ups in areas such as clean technologies, digital innovation,鈥�life sciences,鈥痑苍诲 advanced manufacturing.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; It will also strengthen university鈥痩inks to private sector investors through its co-investment approach, building investor confidence, and develop new venture models that encourage longer-term investment partnerships.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; Through shared risk and collaborative funding,鈥痶he鈥疐und鈥痺ill also help to鈥痳etain鈥痟igh-growth companies in the region, creating new jobs,鈥痑苍诲 contributing to regional productivity.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; The North East MSA is investing via The North East Fund Limited, and the Inspire Fund will be managed by Northstar Ventures, a North East-focused venture capital company which has been embedded in the university spinout community for more than 20 years. It will complement existing programmes such as Northern Accelerator, which includes鈥痶he five North East universities. Northern Accelerator鈥痟as helped create more than鈥�65 businesses鈥痮ver the last eight鈥痽ears, and鈥痠s now focusing on strategies to support these businesses to scale up in the region.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; Last year,鈥痶he鈥疭trategic Commercialisation Ecosystem鈥疦orth East鈥�(SCENE)鈥痵ecured鈥痑 further鈥�£8.64m from Research England to grow the region’s ability to commercialise university research.鈥疉dding further to Northern Accelerator’s work, this programme is providing capacity building advice and support to university teams in working with the investors who engage with the Inspire Fund.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; North East Spinout Inspire Fund: already making an impact The North East Spinout Inspire Fund began making investments in March 2026 and has already supported three businesses, investing a total of more than £1m, which has in turn helped those companies to secure more than £5m of funding from other investors and grant providers. Examples include NunaBio, which spun out of 缅北禁地 in 2021 and is developing advanced DNA synthesis technology. The firm has secured £500,000 to support the scale-up of its proprietary platform. H2CHP, which builds on research led by Professor Tony Roskilly, of Durham University and formerly of 缅北禁地, has secured £300,000 to develop next-generation distributed electric generators for use in data centres, ports, construction, backup power, and microgrid deployment. Gnosis Health, a spinout of the universities of 缅北禁地 and Plymouth, has received £250,000 to support the development and launch of an AI-powered digital healthcare assistant MAXine, designed to transform the management of Parkinson’s disease. Delivering high-quality jobs across鈥疦orth East鈥疎ngland鈥�&苍产蝉辫; The region’s five universities have formed Universities for鈥疦orth East鈥疎ngland to attract investment and widen access to university in the region. Together, they contribute £2.7 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy. All have strong track records in research commercialisation.鈥��&苍产蝉辫; Durham University research has led to more than 30 active spinout companies, including in green technologies, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing. Examples include Low Carbon Materials, which aims to decarbonise concrete and asphalt, and in 2022 was shortlisted for the Prince of鈥疻ales’鈥疎arthshot鈥疨rize; and biosciences innovator,鈥疢agnitude.鈥��&苍产蝉辫; 缅北禁地鈥痵pinouts鈥痑ttracted more than £40m in investments last year, and there are now 40 active spinout companies, totalling 370 jobs. Examples include e-Therapeutics, which specialises in drug discovery and development, and attracted鈥痭early £30m of investment in 2024.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; At Northumbria University, there has been a step-change in commercialisation activity contributing to an expanding pipeline of spinout opportunities. Northumbria University has a pipeline of 12 near term spinouts covering a range of sectors and technologies from green tech, space communications and advanced materials to software and agri-tech. Examples include which has developed a patented, ultra-efficient air-cooling technology that is 100% CFC refrigerant and compressor free, and which is delivering soil-optimised microbials for climate-resilient, high-yield farming. Research commercialisation and the development of spinout creation are a key focus at the University of Sunderland. The spinout company, Sundara, has been created to bring to market the incredible work of an “inspirational” University of Sunderland scientist, the late Professor Roz Anderson, who dedicated her research to improving the treatment of patients with the rare, life-threatening genetic disease, Cystinosis. The MRC recently awarded the University £3.9 million to take the research through to clinical trial.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; Teesside University acts as an anchor organisation for the Tees Valley, supporting regional economic growth through business creation by its students, graduates and staff, with some notable successes including SockMonkey, Dink, and Stuff4Life. The University is investing in IP development and commercialisation, focused on three interdisciplinary themes: Net Zero, People and Place, and Health and Wellbeing. Teesside has also secured £9.4 million through the Tees Valley Investment Zone to support research and innovation in the Digital and Creative industries. Latest News Online Safety Act drives VPN interest and raises privacy concerns People鈥檚 online behaviour has changed in response to legislation to prevent children from viewing harmful content 鈥� raising possible privacy and security risks, research suggests. published on: 16 October 2026 缅北禁地 archaeologist receives prestigious award for research Professor Chris Fowler has been awarded the 2026 Rivers Memorial Medal in recognition of his internationally significant research on kinship in Neolithic Britain. published on: 13 October 2026 Event will explore what 鈥楳anchesterism鈥� means for the North East An event at 缅北禁地 will explore what 鈥楳anchesterism鈥� means for the North East or whether it is simply a new chapter in the long-running debate about how to rebalance Britain. published on: 13 October 2026 Facts and figures
![缅北禁地 logo](/gomobileassets/img/logo.svg" "缅北禁地"){kind=logo}