The Inclusive Innovation and Westminster Incubator event was held in partnership with Innovate UK (IUK), the UK government’s innovation agency, and aimed to find solutions to overcoming the challenges to innovation faced by researchers and entrepreneurs, particularly from communities under-represented in IUK’s funding programmes.
The event was held at Westminster’s Regent Campus on 6 December 2022, and brought together the CEO of IUK Indro Mukerjee, its senior management team, 30 Westminster academics, and 20 alumni who are now business owners. It was coordinated by Professor Paul Dwyer of the Westminster Enterprise Network (WeNetwork) and Yewande Akinola MBE, Visiting Professor at Westminster and IUK’s Ambassador for Clean Growth and Infrastructure.
The day kicked off with an introduction from Westminster’s Vice-Chancellor and President Dr Peter Bonfield who underlined Westminster’s commitment to and expertise in inclusive innovation. He also presented some of the findings from his report for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) outlining Tomorrow’s Engineering Research Challenges, which makes recommendations to the government for promoting inclusive engineering.
Indro Mukerjee then outlined the process that IUK is following to adapt the agency’s processes, systems and programmes to enable them to empower innovators from all backgrounds to contribute to building the future of the UK.
The launch of WeNetwork’s new Incubator programme was also announced by Clelia Bevillard, Senior Student Enterprise Manager, which will aim to support Westminster alumni’s businesses to grow and develop. Applications for this will open in the New Year and WeNetwork particularly encourages applications by alumni founders currently under-represented in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The afternoon then continued with a series of workshops and round-tables where IUK sector experts including Scott O’Brien, Interim Director for Innovation Finance, John McNamara, Innovation and Growth Specialist, Sophie Lonergan, Investment and Start up Engagement Lead, and Thushara Sabreen, Innovation Lead for Creative Industries, supported Westminster academics and alumni businesses in developing innovation projects and businesses in a range of areas from cancer detection and treatment, to creative industries and sustainable business.
Speaking about the event and how Westminster has supported his business, Tobias Gamper, a Westminster alumnus and Founder of Science Lens, said: “We learnt a lot about Innovate UK programmes and plans, and I look forward to hopefully being selected as part of the Westminster Incubator. I was able to secure initial funding [for my business] as part of the Big Idea Competition which helped me to develop my product. My experience was really great with WeNetwork.”
Speaking about the importance of inclusive innovation, Yewande Akinola said: “It is essential that we are coming up with solutions for everyone. We can’t continue innovating for a select type of people. We should consider culture, background, abilities, and it is so important that we grow the economy by growing innovation that really works for everybody.”
Professor Dwyer added: “Today was just a part of Westminster’s continuing commitment to making enterprise and innovation work for everyone. The test of our success will be when we see these businesses and innovation projects growing and improving the lives of our community”.
Find out more about Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the University of Westminster.
For more information about the Incubator programme, please contact [email protected].
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