26 Jul 2023

Game-changing fund opens in UK to boost science & tech research

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has announced the opening of a new fund, called the Research Ventures Catalyst.

The new Research Ventures Catalyst fund will unlock the provision of up to £50m of Government investment to support new UK research ventures and encourage greater private and philanthropic backing for UK science, research, and innovation.

DSIT is currently seeking lead applicants with a clear vision to grow a new venture from the ground up and deliver high impact research in a new way.

The Catalyst is opening for bids of up to £100,000 in ‘seedcorn’ funding to allow researchers to develop full plans for their proposed ventures.

Eventually, it will deliver up to £50 million of investment, backed by government with additional private and philanthropic co-investment.

Key resources

DSIT's press release, with further information, can be found here.
If you would like to make an application to the Research Ventures Catalyst, or contact DSIT regarding related investment opportunities, further details can be found here.
DSIT will be hosting an applicant Q&A session on: 14 August & 13 September. You can register your interest to join the session here.

Rory Daniels

Senior Programme Manager, Emerging Technologies

Rory joined techUK in June 2023 after three years in the Civil Service on its Fast Stream leadership development programme.

During this time, Rory worked on the Government's response to Covid-19 (NHS Test & Trace), school funding strategy (Department for Education) and international climate and nature policy (Cabinet Office). He also tackled the social care crisis whilst on secondment to techUK's Health and Social Care programme in 2022.

Before this, Rory worked in the House of Commons and House of Lords alongside completing degrees in Political Economy and Global Politics.

Today, Rory leads techUK's emerging technologies activity across everything from immersive, web3, AI and robotics to space, gaming & metaverse.

This involves co-running techUK's flagship Innovation campaign, managing four series (including the 'Meet the Innovators' interview series), and launching 4-6-month 'sprint campaigns' on transformative technologies and sectors.

Email:: [email protected]
LinkedIn:: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorydaniels28/

Read lessmore

Laura Foster

Associate Director - Technology and Innovation, techUK

Laura is techUK’s Associate Director for Technology and Innovation.

She supports the application and expansion of emerging technologies, including Quantum Computing, High-Performance Computing, AR/VR/XR and Edge technologies, across the UK. As part of this, she works alongside techUK members and UK Government to champion long-term and sustainable innovation policy that will ensure the UK is a pioneer in science and technology

Before joining techUK, Laura worked internationally as a conference researcher and producer covering enterprise adoption of emerging technologies. This included being part of the strategic team at London Tech Week.

Laura has a degree in History (BA Hons) from Durham University, focussing on regional social history. Outside of work she loves reading, travelling and supporting rugby team St. Helens, where she is from.