Commercial Proof of Concept Fund

Commercial POC Fund

Offers UCL teams access to support that turns campus proof-of-concept work into licensable and investable innovation.

UCL Business (UCLB) is the technology transfer and commercialization arm of University College London, responsible for protecting and commercializing UCL intellectual property across all academic disciplines. The Commercial Proof of Concept Fund is an internal translational funding mechanism through which UCLB invests in UCL-derived IP or technologies that demonstrate credible commercial promise. Awards of up to £75,000 per project support pre-commercial evaluation and development activities — typically spanning six to nine months — with the explicit goal of bridging the gap between a research output and a commercially attractive licensing deal or spinout opportunity.

Eligibility is restricted to UCL researchers working with UCL-derived IP; no external organizations or individuals outside UCL may apply. The program operates on a continuous rolling basis with no fixed annual deadline or published RFP cycle. Access is exclusively through a UCLB Business Manager, who sponsors and shapes each proposal before it is reviewed by UCLB's internal investment committee. Prospective applicants identify their assigned Business Manager via the UCLB contact directory at uclb.com/contact-us/find-your-business-manager/.

The fund is sector-agnostic in principle, supporting technologies across engineering, life sciences, digital, materials, and physical sciences. Projects are assessed on commercial attractiveness rather than academic merit alone, so applicants should be prepared to articulate a licensing or spinout pathway, prospective customer or partner interest, and a clear scope for what the POC funding will validate. The internal investment committee structure means timelines are flexible but depend heavily on the Business Manager's assessment of readiness and strategic fit within UCLB's active portfolio.