University of Birmingham Enterprise works with our academic innovators from discovery and disclosure, commercial validation, intellectual property protection, through to commercialisation. Not every opportunity will be right for commercialisation but those that are could be licensable to existing companies, might form part of a consultancy service, or in some cases could become the foundation for a new company (or “spin-out”).
Once University of Birmingham Enterprise (UoBE) team members working on the project feel confident there is sufficient commercial proof of concept they will work with the academics (and any relevant external management team members identified) to pull and an investment ready business plan together.
- During this phase a presentation will be delivered to the UoBE Board. This gives the board sight of new opportunities and allows them to ask questions and offer advice at an early stage.
- When the business plan is finalised and the team are ready, UoBE will kick off a formal decision-making process which typically takes no more than one month. A formal paper is provided to the board seeking a recommendation to take equity in the company. This often happens in parallel with investor discussions so that we are sure that the proposed opportunity is ready and the plan sufficient. The paper is prepared by the UoBE spin-out team and requires initial sponsorship from the Chief Executive Officer of UoBE, and the relevant Head of College . Provided the spin-out candidate teams clarify any questions arising in a timely manner, it should take no more than two weeks for this paper (with Head of College approval) to be finalised and submitted to the UoBE Board.
- The board can review and discuss the paper outside the ordinary schedule of meetings. It will typically be asked to provide any comments within one week. No comments are taken as a positive recommendation to proceed.
- The final sign-off rests with the Chief Financial Officer of the University (or the CEO of UoBE, as the CFO’s nominee), who receives the paper and the UoBE Board’s recommendation. These decisions are typically recorded within a couple of days of the recommendation.
- The CEO of UoBE will usually be the signatory on any resulting agreements signed on behalf of the University of Birmingham.