Prof William Kilgallon named as Reading’s first Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence

In January 2021, the School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy (SCFP) welcomed Professor William (Bill) Kilgallon as the University’s first Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR). In this role, Prof Kilgallon will spend one day per week delivering transformation in the commercialisation of research within SCFP and more broadly across the Agriculture, Food and Health research theme.

The EiR scheme is designed to provide our research community with access to world-leading expertise and advice across multiple industry sectors to:

  • expose university staff and students to state-of-the-art industrial research and development, and the scientific challenges faced by industry
  • provide support and expert advice aimed at promoting innovation and the translation of research by universities
  • grow confidence in and understanding of business and entrepreneurship among staff and students

 

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In his role, Prof Kilgallon will:

  • Lead discussion with colleagues across SCFP and broadly across the university, including department seminars to introduce and develop engagement with the scheme
  • Work with our community to develop a greater understanding of how to recognise and manage potential commercial research opportunities.
  • Support entrepreneurial and commercial upskilling of students, academics and professional services staff.
  • Create a model business development system that better defines and accelerates the routes to market for emerging commercial research initiatives, this will have initial impact in SCFP, but working closely with colleagues in Knowledge Transfer Centre the impact will be University-wide.
  • Enable access to his personal network of contacts to better develop collaboration and partnering opportunities with wider stakeholders and institutions.
  • Work with senior leaders and key stakeholders to identify opportunities to enhance Reading’s translational research portfolio
  • Increase the visibility of the UoR within the business world and foster engagement with local industries in the context of business growth and regeneration.

Early in his career Prof Kilgallon completed a post-doc at UCLA where he worked at the interface between the University and local medical diagnostics companies, this led to a 30-year career which has encompassed biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical companies. He has a breadth of practical experience of product development, market launches and economic business planning. This has included the development and commercialisation of routine diagnostic tests, global drug development following the purchase of technology from a small UK biotech company and more recently, business turnaround of a £5M company leading to an exit strategy valued at £80M. Prof Kilgallon has an understanding of the academic environment from both his early career and now as he continues to work closely with Donau University, Austria where he lectures and coaches on their MBA Biotechnology.

Professor William Kilgallon PhD MBA FCIM said:

“It’s a real pleasure and a unique challenge to be the new RS EIR for the University of Reading. I’ve already met a some of the talented people at the university and hopefully I can facilitate a radical transformation in the commercialisation of research and accelerate ideas to market.”

Read more on the Royal Society website

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If you’re interested in getting involved or would like to see how you can collaborate with the Knowledge Transfer Centre, please get in touch.

And the winner of ‘just IMAGINE if…’ is…

For the past few months we have been working hard alongside Ella’s Kitchen founder Paul Lindley on his exciting idea about ideasjust IMAGINE if…

just IMAGINE if… has had one mission from the beginning: to identify and help develop extraordinary ideas.

Companies, partnerships, not-for-profit organisations or individuals with an extraordinary idea that could help alleviate one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals but need research input to help it grow were able to apply. After viewing hundreds of excellent entries, the panel narrowed it down to ten amazing finalists.

We were lucky enough to attend the final on Thursday 28th Feb, and listened to amazing talks from the likes of Brompton MD Will Butler-Adams, former Dragon Piers Linney, and Apprentice season 5 winner Yasmina Siadatan to name a few, with the event chaired by the brilliant Seven Hills co-founder Michael Hayman

After enjoying the outstanding pitches from the ten budding entrepreneurs, we are excited to announce that after a vote from all the attendees, the winner is ALEXANDER WANKEL.

Alexander showcased his idea of tapping into Peru’s native crops and helping to support local smallholder farmers, creating plant-based milks made with climate smart Andean grains and quinoa called ‘MilQ’.

We want to extend a HUGE congratulations to Alexander for winning the competition, but we’re confident that all of the finalists will get support in developing their ideas by either a collaboration with us or one of the other incredible businessmen and women who attended the event.

You can see Alexander’s submission video and those of the other nine finalists here.

just IMAGINE if… is to return next year, so keep your eyes open for details on how to apply towards the end of 2019. In the meantime should you have a product or service you need support developing, we welcome anyone to get in touch with the Knowledge Transfer Centre to discuss how we may be able to help you shape your future.

TVBLEP announce their award winning funding escalator increase to £11.3m!

In 2013, Thames Valley Berkshire LEP invested nearly half its Growing Places Fund to create the TVB Funding Escalator to help local high-growth businesses. Managed by The FSE Group, the Funding Escalator has so far supported 51 companies and invested £8.3million of loans and equity, creating or safeguarding 594 jobs in the LEP area. In addition, £21million of private finance has been leveraged to help companies grow. The funding escalator has supported businesses from a wide range of different sectors, including Tech & Digital, Life Sciences, MedTech, Cultural & Creative and Food & Beverages.

To build on this success, the LEP has committed a further £3million to make the £11.3million an ‘evergreen fund’; and increased both the size of loans available up to £300,000 and the period up to 5 years. The increased scale of the fund will mean that it is self-sustaining so that it can continue to support SMEs in Berkshire in perpetuity. This represents a significant investment for the LEP and reinforces its determination to support SMEs in the area, from any sector, that want to grow and create wealth locally.

Robin Barnes, Programme Lead for Enterprise, Innovation & Business Growth at Thames Valley Berkshire LEP says: “We created the first funding escalator in the UK with the aim to transform the way businesses can grow by creating an enduring legacy of business investment, innovation and growth in our sub region. This increased capacity and evergreen status is a real game changer and I would encourage ambitious businesses to get in touch with The FSE Group.”

Chief Executive of The FSE Group, Dean Mayer, adds: “We are delighted to continue our close working relationship with Thames Valley Berkshire LEP. The Funding Escalator is here to help support businesses looking to grow substantially in Berkshire, and we are extremely proud of our achievements over the last 5 years. This new injection of £3million allows us to press ahead in reaching even more innovative and high-quality businesses in the area.”

 

**All text courtesy of TVBLEP on http://www.thamesvalleyberkshire.co.uk/news?id=69**

Extra KTP Funding References Success of UoR’s Partnership with Ella’s Kitchen

On November 9th, Innovate UK announced an additional £30million of funding for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs); a government backed scheme which connects businesses across the UK with an academic or research organisation (such as a university), along with a qualified graduate.

There are currently 630 graduates and post-doctoral researchers employed in KTPs branching across industrial research and development and entrepreneurial roles, and the additional funding means this will be able to expand significantly.

The announcement referenced the success story of Ella’s Kitchen; a multi-national baby food company who have had three projects with University of Reading, and maintain an ongoing relationship with the Knowledge Transfer Centre and UoR Academics.

The announcement of additional funding is an extremely exciting one, and even more so with a mention of the successful projects of University of Reading.

The full announcement can be read here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/30-million-for-business-and-graduate-partnerships