The value of university spin-out companies has tripled since 2020, reaching £49 billion, with activity growing beyond the golden triangle, according to a new report.
Spotlight on Spinouts, an annual report by the Royal Academy of Engineering, found that “the UK leads for spinout value creation in Europe”, and while Switzerland leads on a per capita basis, the UK is the leading country in absolute terms.
This was despite a slowdown in venture capital funding in 2025, dropping to £1.3 billion, the lowest since 2021. Last year the UK claimed two of Europe’s six $1 billion (£750 million) exits – both at the University of Oxford, with OrganOx and Oxford Ionics.
The UK hosts five of the top 10 European universities for spin-out value creation, the report highlights with Oxford ranked first in Europe with a combined enterprise value of £13.5 billion.
This was followed by the University of Cambridge (£10.4 billion) and UCL (£5.5 billion), the University of Bristol (£8.5 billion) and Imperial College London (£3.4 billion) all appeared in the top 10.
