Imperial Featured in Impact and Innovation 110 | Imperial News

A new publication from Upstream – a partnership between the Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Imperial Oil – shines a light on leaders in innovation and impact.

The Impact and Innovation publication ‘II100’, which was launched earlier this week, celebrates 110 organizations from the region that are leading the way in the science, technology, creative and charity sectors, including many Imperial departments of White City.

The evening was hosted by Upstream, a unique partnership between Imperial College London and Hammersmith and Fulham Council which aims to support collaboration, enterprise and innovation in the borough. The publication showcases the positive impact of these organizations and aims to inspire more collaboration by fostering strong local networks.

Prema Gurunathan, Managing Director of Upstream, said, “We are thrilled to bring together so many pioneering organizations doing such impressive work within H&F. We hope II110 is a useful platform for them and helps us build a strong local network of innovators, with inclusive growth at its core.

Guests heard from Dr. Samin Saeed (Scientific and Medical Director, Novartis UK); Professor Maggie Dallman (Vice-President and Associate Vice-President, Imperial College London); Richard Haynes (CCO, Avado Learning); Tsewang Wangkang (CEO, Embargo); Bethany McDonald Shepherd (Head of Social and Charitable Innovation, LAMDA) and Hammersmith & Fulham Head, Councilor Stephen Cowan.

White City Campus Recognition

The White City’s Innovation District is home to a thriving innovative community, of start-up for global multinationals. Imperial’s White City VSamp headquarters in the heart of the district, bringing together shops, academia and the premises community on an unprecedented scale. Imperial has created a unique entrepreneurial ecosystem in White City and the ‘II110′ report highlights some of the most innovative spaces and departments on VSampincluding the Advanced Hacking Space, Sir Michael Uren Hub and the I–HUB. It also highlights the work in progress at the Molecular science research center and Imperial College Business School – see the full publication here

The ‘II110’ publication also features several companies that have come through Imperial’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and benefited from the support, resources and facilities it provides. One of these companies is Multus, a biotech start-up seeking to lower the cost of producing cultured meat to enable a more sustainable future for the food supply. Co-founded by two Imperial graduates, they started their journey at Advanced Hackspace before graduating and joining the White City incubator to grow and expand their operations.

“Imperial supported us through ideation to raise our first round of investment and bring the product to market.” cai linton CEO, Multus

Cai Linton, CEO of Multus, said: “It is a great pleasure to be included in the II100 among other impactful and inspiring companies. We started as students, working on a project in the Advanced Hackspace and used competitions such as the Venture Catalyst Challenge and the Faculty of Natural Sciences’ Make a Difference competition to refine our business idea. and focus our research and development. It was with the advice of our mentors acquired through the Imperial Venture mentorship program that we took our first external investment, and we are now based in the Translation and Innovation Center with a team of 11 people who have just launched our first product Proliferum® M.”

Community impact

the ‘II110′ launch celebrated not only industry innovators, but also organizations making a positive impact in the Hammersmith and Fulham community and beyond. Professor Maggie Dallman, vice president (International) and vice-rector (Academic Papartnerships) talked about the amazing work going on at the Invention rooms.

Professor Dalman and his team lead proof and empowering local residents through science, innovation and collaboration. She explained that programs at The Invention Rooms are co-created with the communityand already have a sustainable impact on all ages. Throughout the pandemic, the team stayed in touch with residents in switching online engagement activities to continue providing vital support to the community.

Growth acceleration

The launch event took place at Scale Space, a workplace dedicated to helping scale-ups innovate and grow. Born from a joint venture between leading UK digital business builder, Blenheim Chalcot, and Imperial College London, they offer over 200,000 square feet of bespoke space for high-growth businesses, as well as a series of services aimed at solving the challenges of their members.

In early 2021, Imperial College Business School opened a dedicated 12,000 square foot teaching and research space, which is used by business school students and scholars.

Professor Ian Mackenzie, Professor of Practice, spoke briefly at the event and underlined that the business school was present at Scale Space – not only to teach, but also to offer students the opportunity to discover Imperial’s White City campus and to forge connections with the scale of businesses based within Scale Space as well as the wider White City entrepreneurial community.

Read Upstream Publication II110 here.