Running from October 2026 to June 2027, the Innovate UK (IUK) Venture Builder pilot programme, delivered by Pioneer Group in partnership with Science Creates, will support 25 ventures working across three of the UK's most strategically critical technology sectors to become investment ready ahead of their first significant round.
IUK Venture Builder addresses a specific failure in the UK ecosystem: spinouts with validated markets and defensible science that struggle to reach their first significant investment round. The programme applies intensive venture building support and decision gates at every stage, so that at the end there is a venture an investor can commit to.
The cohort is made up of seven ventures in Frontier AI, nine in Engineering Biology and nine in Advanced Materials and Manufacturing — three tracks aligned to the IS-6 priority sectors of the UK Industrial Strategy. Between them, they are working in applied AI for scientific, industrial and safety-critical settings, engineered biological platforms spanning biomedicine, food systems and agriculture; and advanced materials and processes for energy, healthcare and industrial manufacturing.
The ventures have come out of 16 UK universities and research institutes across eight regions of the UK.
Selection was a rigorous two-stage application process. The first stage tested whether each team had a market-validated innovation, evidenced by a named organisation committing cost, effort and defined scope to working with the technology. The second was a competitive Innovate UK grant application. Throughout, teams had to show they could move at pace over the months ahead.
The 25 ventures were selected from 59 grant applications, following 95 expressions of interest from 48 institutions across the UK.
The full cohort is listed on the IUK Venture Builder programme page.
The IUK Venture Builder pilot will be delivered by Pioneer Group in partnership with Science Creates. Together, they bring a rare combination of hands-on venture building experience and active Deep Tech investment.
Pioneer is an investor in, and operator of, European innovation ecosystems, home to a £1 billion ecosystem of 400 resident companies across its UK and Ireland sites, with a decade-long record of venture programmes that includes the Launch Programme for UKRI-backed ICURe spin-outs — the same stage and origin as this cohort.
Science Creates has built one of the UK's most active Deep Tech ecosystems from its Bristol hub — combining laboratory infrastructure, company-building support, and its dedicated investment vehicle, SCVC, which backs Deep Tech founders from the earliest stages.
The partnership's end-to-end capability — from programme design and delivery through to first-cheque investment — makes it a standout choice for the pilot programme.
Dr Lucy McGowan, Innovation Lead, Science Creates: "Science Creates exists to ensure the UK’s best science is commercialised within well-established companies that are built for success from day 0. This pilot gives us the opportunity to do that at national scale with spinouts, across three sectors where the UK genuinely has world-leading talent. We're excited to work alongside Pioneer to make it happen."
Each venture receives an Innovate UK grant of up to £150,000 awarded directly to the company, across nine months of part-time support running to June 2027. The grant funds the work of becoming investable: the IP position documented, the commercial evidence assembled, the company structure and the numbers built and defensible. The programme also works on the founding team, identifying where it needs to strengthen. Because every venture arrives having already validated its market, the nine months are spent building the venture around the technology.
The 25 ventures are working towards their first significant raise, and investor engagement runs through the programme rather than sitting at the end of it. Eight investor touch points are built into the nine months, from month one to a showcase in London at month eight, and visibility of the cohort will be shared as it progresses.
Progression through the programme is earned rather than assumed, with decision gates at months three, six and nine. What the pilot will be judged on is what these 25 ventures can put in front of an investor by June 2027, and whether it stands up to due diligence.
The programme is co-directed by Fiona Nielsen, Venture Builder Programme Director at Pioneer Group, and Dr Lucy McGowan, Innovation Lead at Science Creates. Support is sector-curated rather than general, with each track led by a specialist who has built companies in that field. Frontier AI is led by Dr Oliver Stevens, an AI systems researcher and chartered engineer. Engineering Biology is led by Dr Joe Healey, founder of the University of Warwick spin-out NanoSyrinx. Advanced Materials and Manufacturing is led by Dr Sam Alexander, a materials chemist who has taken battery chemistry from laboratory to commercial product. Stevens and Healey are both Innovate UK ICURe alumni, from the 2014 and 2018 cohorts. Investor engagement across the cohort is led by Dr Harriet Lester at Pioneer Group.
Fiona Nielsen, Venture Builder Programme Director, Pioneer Group: "At Pioneer Group we are excited to deliver this ground-breaking programme providing both core commercial and sector specific support across Frontier AI, Engineering Biology and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, leveraging our Expert Network to offer both dedicated troubleshooting expertise and broad network reach into speciality sectors."
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