UCL Business (UCLB)

Helps UCL Business by managing proof-of-concept funding, licensing, and equity support for University College London discoveries.

UCL Business (UCLB) is the wholly owned commercialisation subsidiary of University College London (UCL), established to turn exceptional research from UCL and its partner NHS hospitals into real-world impact. UCLB operates as a technology transfer office and equity investor rather than a conventional grant-giving body: it takes equity stakes in spinout companies, arranges IP licensing deals, and administers a small portfolio of internal proof-of-concept grants exclusively for UCL researchers. Between 2019 and 2024, UCLB-supported UCL-derived companies raised £3 billion in external investment. The funding pots it administers — a Commercial POC fund (up to £75,000) and a Social Ventures POC fund (up to £20,000) — are internal translational grants available only to UCL staff and UCL-derived IP, not open public calls.