Government agencies are providing £3.2 million funding to help universities commercialise projects and create more ‘spin-out’ businesses.

In a move announced today, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Innovate UK will help universities protect their intellectual property and get ‘proof of concept’ funding.

The project, called iCURE, will see the two organisations working together with university enterprise partnership SETsquared to increase the number of academic research projects that become commercial enterprises.

Announcing the funding, universities minister Greg Clark said: “Collaboration is the key to turning the best research into new businesses. We are proud that SETsquared is already Europe’s best incubator, and second in the world, which is why we are supporting this pilot scheme.

“It will provide skills, support and mentoring to help the UK’s best researchers turn their ideas into commercial success. This strengthens the UK’s position as the best place for science and technology research, and drives forward our economic growth.”

Early stage researchers at five universities - Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey – will be trained to speed up the monetisation of ideas.

The project was inspired by a similar programme taking place in the US.