TenU: The Story so Far
As we mark the sixth anniversary of the establishment of TenU, it’s a good moment to reflect on the positive changes to the university innovation ecosystem over these years – many of which TenU has driven forward.
Since TenU’s creation in 2020, university-led innovation has moved from a specialist concern to a central pillar of the UK’s economic and industrial strategy. Universities are now routinely positioned as engines of growth, anchors of regional development, and partners in delivering national missions. This shift has been enabled not only by scientific excellence and entrepreneurial ambition but also by sustained sector-wide efforts to strengthen the visibility, credibility, and effectiveness of research commercialisation across the UK.
TenU has convened the sector's many parts, amplified its successes globally, and shared best practice, all of which has meaningfully contributed to elevating its reputation within government, investors and society.
TenU has turned dispersed expertise into collective capability. By breaking down silos and engaging in meaningful sector-wide collaboration with investors, founders, funders, industry, and other key stakeholders, it has raised the baseline across the system and enabled institutions of different sizes and maturity to engage with confidence and coherence.
The USIT Guides are a prominent example: co-developed with universities, investors and law firms representing founders, the USIT Guides have been endorsed by government, adopted by more than 70 UK universities [1], and served globally as an example of best practice. By clarifying expectations around equity and investment terms, they have helped reduce friction in spinout formation and improve the efficiency of university-investor engagement. The focus now will be on ensuring that the USIT Guides remain widely available to universities, investors, and founders globally.
Similarly, TenU’s convening work around Proof-of-Concept programmes has supported the UK Government’s Spinout Review [2], increased funding, and built a robust £100m-per-year evidence base [3]. The latest University-Investor Links Review endorses this figure, with UKRI now committed to working with the recommendation, just as TenU prepares to publish a guide for those running or looking to set up PoC programmes. With the launch date in January 2027, the Guide is being co-developed with stakeholder groups from across the sector, including investors, funders, charities, and industry representatives.
To embed this culture of collaboration and sharing of best practice into the system, TenU has also created training programmes. Through the TenU Future Leaders Programme, it has developed 47 future leaders across 19 technology transfer offices in five countries, building a culture of openness, exchange, and continuous improvement across the international sector. The TenU RISE mentoring programme has created safe spaces for honest conversations, accelerating professional learning across a further 32 TTOs and helping diffuse cutting-edge practice well beyond TenU’s membership. As TenU enters its final programme year, work is underway with Knowledge Exchange UK (KEUK) to embed aspects of these programmes and resources more widely in the sector.
TenU’s peer-learning culture has extended beyond formal programmes. Through its TenU Hosts event series and podcasts [4], it has convened hundreds of practitioners, policymakers, and ecosystem partners from across the global landscape. This growing global audience has demonstrated the appetite for practical, experience-led learning as well as the trust placed in TenU as a neutral, credible thought-leader. The extensive TenU Hosts web archive will continue to be made available.
Beyond any individual programme, TenU’s broader contribution has been to help the sector become more visible, more connected, and more confident in articulating its value. It has created space for collective problem-solving, strengthened relationships across institutions and stakeholder groups, and helped establish a more impactful shared narrative around the role of university innovation in economic growth and societal impact.
Collaboration lies at the heart of this success. The shared commitment of leading research-intensive universities in the UK, the US, and Belgium has been crucial to success. It’s great to see that collaboration is as strong as ever, and that members remain committed to continuing the exchange of best practice and sector learning for the benefit of the wider ecosystem, ensuring that the networks, insights, and tools developed through TenU continue to inform the sector in the years ahead.
TenU is grateful to the many partners across the sector whose contributions and engagement have shaped and strengthened this work. Thank you in particular to key partners who have reflected on the role of this work on the occasion of its anniversary:
I’ve seen first-hand the difference TenU has made to the UK’s innovation ecosystem. From shaping the USIT Guides to advancing proof-of-concept funding, it has helped create a more investable, better-connected environment for spinouts to succeed.- Tim Haines, Executive Partner, Abingworth
TenU has played a vital role in breaking down sector and institutional silos, driving change in how the HE sector approaches commercialisation. Its inclusive and expert approach, alongside credible national advocacy, has been key to this success. - Vanessa Wilson, CEO, University Alliance
Through the Future Leaders Programme and RISE, TenU has created a trusted space for learning and exchange – building confidence, capability, and a stronger sense of community across the profession that will continue well beyond the programme itself. - Zuzana Kasanova, Translational Programme Manager, KU Leuven R&D
TenU has been a genuinely unifying force across the sector – consistently championing collaboration, raising standards, and ensuring technology transfer is recognised as a central pillar of the UK’s innovation system. - Alison Campbell, CEO, Government Office for Technology Transfer