WestFocus Commercialisation staff work on an extensive and rich portfolio of opportunities that are at various stages of business creation. The pipeline of projects and opportunities is generated in a number of ways, but primarily happens through:

• Proactive project mining activity.
• Direct approaches from academic members of staff, research teams, departmental heads and business development managers.
• Direct approaches from individuals, external organisations and companies working on potentially complementary ideas and technologies.

Commercialisation Managers assess each opportunity immediately for its commercial potential as well as its technical feasibility. Typically the project owners or proposers will be interviewed several times and data is collected for subsequent assessment and validation. If appropriate, the proposer will be asked to collect any additional missing information that is deemed necessary to support the case. The Commercialisation Managers will work closely with the team responsible for Intellectual Property protection and research commercialisation at their institution so that any IPR issues are identified and managed at an early stage.

What Happens Next?

Although each institution has its own internal processes and procedures that it must adhere to, typically a case for commercialisation will need to be presented to an 'Enterprise Board' (EB) or similar body. The purpose of the EB is not to award funding, but to assess the desirability and appropriateness of projects - for example - do they fit with the institution's research and technology strategy, are there ethical considerations and so on?

Once through this stage, a project (or 'case') can be presented to WestFocus for funding support. The types of grant or loan funds available are described on adjoining pages. The funds are managed by the PARK Board, which is made up of senior representatives from WestFocus institutions together with a representative from the London Development Agency. A common application form and “light touch” assessment process is carried out for each application. Successful project proposers receive an Offer Letter via their institution that specifies the nature of the funding awarded; what it will be used for; key milestones and deliverables and so on.

A key aspect of our model for Business Creation is the appointment of appropriately qualified Project Managers and even Chairs at an early stage in the commercialisation process. In most cases first funding applied for will be used to finance these positions to produce a business model for potential commercialisation of the technology. The continued involvement of qualified commercial managers is vital to the successful development and progression of opportunities.

WFBC staff help to manage cases through a progression of funding stages. At each stage the true commercial potential will continue to be questioned and will need to be validated. As cases move from the proof of concept and development stages, the importance and necessity for generating investment from commercial sources is heightened.

What Do We Look For?

The commercial potential of the project is the primary concern. However, we also assess a range of other factors including:

• The true extent of novelty; the potential for capturing and creating new IPR
• The size and accessibility of the market
• How ready the market is for the technology
• How presentable is the technology
• How much of a rounded team is in place 

We use a variety of scoring and assessment mechanisms at various stages to evaluate proposals and projects, which are designed to be appropriate to the stage of commercialisation reached.