Nurturing innovation through our Venture Lab

By: Michelle Atkinson
Date: October 2024

Attending university is so much more than the academic experience.  

Giving our graduates an employability edge is one part of our widening student experience offer. We provide all our students and graduates with access to career and enterprise support. One example is through our Venture Lab, which is dedicated to helping our students and graduates create new ideas and launch new ventures.  

Since our Venture Lab Team formed five years ago, 140 new start-ups have emerged, with £18 million collectively raised in external funding. 

A five year journey

Marek Tokarski, Senior Enterprise Manager, said: "It's been an incredible journey over the past five years with Venture Lab. We’ve grown from one person to a team of six to meet the growing interest in enterprise on campus. Our innovation and entrepreneurship programmes are sector-leading, having featured in United Nations’ publications, highlighted as best practice by the Scottish Government, and recognised multiple times by the National Enterprise Educator awards.”                                                                                             

Venture Lab offers various programmes, resources and initiatives to help students and graduates turn their ideas into successful businesses. Their support and initiatives have empowered budding entrepreneurs to address global challenges such as climate change, poverty, and sustainability.  

Recognising student and graduate innovation

Rachel Bickerdike, Enterprise Manager, said: “It’s a real privilege to work with students and graduates who are dedicated to building innovative solutions to global problems. We’re so proud of their achievements, many of which have received external recognition, including; an Earthshot Prize Finalist, five founders making Forbes 30 Under 30 lists, graduating from world-leading accelerators, two-time Enactus UK National Champions and appearances on BBC’s Dragon’s Den.”                                                                                                                         

Hazan Venture Lab

Venture Lab also has a dedicated physical space - the Hazan Venture Lab. Located next to the main entrance of the Maths and Computer Science Building, it is our first purpose-built space for entrepreneurship. Open to all our students and graduates working on new ventures or enterprising projects, it is a space for them to connect, collaborate and form a community.  

Luke Young and Rory Hornby, co-founders of Alora, have benefited from the support of the Venture Lab team. Alora aims to solve world hunger by pioneering the sustainable future of food with the world’s first ocean agriculture system. They have featured in Forbes and Wire and gone on to raise over $3.5m following support from the Venture Lab. They said: “We have first-hand experience of Venture Lab’s dedication to supporting students who are solving the world’s greatest problems. The team supported Alora in our early days as we set out to solve world hunger. 

“They gave us the launchpad to advance to the next stage and propel our growth. Now, we are a multi-million dollar company at the frontier of science with a network that spans the globe.” 

As part of our University Strategy 2017-2024, we are seeking funding for a step-change in the support we offer to student entrepreneurs and start-up businesses. This is to help retain more of our graduates in the region and develop our students’ employability skills.