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Impact

LUinc. businesses secure patents, get funded, create jobs and win awards

LUinc.

LUinc. supports businesses to succeed

Our business incubator has worked with 140+ businesses and social enterprises in the decade after its launch in 2011. The introduction of the Wayfinder project in 2021, followed by our Sports Tech programme in 2022, have significantly increased LUinc’s reach and impact.

LUinc.’s aim for 2022 and 2023 is to run two cohorts annually, starting in Spring and Autumn, each of which will have 2 streams of member businesses. This means that we are scaling our operation to manage 40 startups each year - and they are coming from the campus, the local area and around the world.

LUinc.

LUinc. impact in numbers

A sample of 37 of the businesses the incubator has worked with since launch found they had created hundreds of jobs and raised more than £2.3m in funding over the course of 2021.

Awards won

  • Many LUinc. members have become multi-award winners, spanning fields including health & insuretech, design & engineering and regional to national innovation awards
  • Our members include award winners for Barclays Entrepreneur of the Year, Young Business Executive of the Year, New Business of the Year, Future Leader Award, Innovate UK Young Innovators Awards and the first winner of the International Medical James Dyson Award
  • Our startups regularly feature in innovation focussed news outlets and national mainstream media, with over 160 instances of coverage during 2021

Funding raised

  • A total £2,305,300 of external investment was raised, including equity and grant funding
  • This is an average of £62,305 per business in the survey
  • One company raised £232,948 in external investment plus a further £891,215 in Government research support

Revenue received

  • The average income for LUinc. member companies was £74,000 over the course of 2021
  • Some businesses recorded nothing as they developed new products and designs
  • More established firms logged revenue running to hundreds of thousands
  • One former member, operating in the technology sector, turned over more than £900,000 and now employs dozens of people

Jobs created

  • A survey of 37 LUinc. members past and present members found that they had employed 253 full-time or part-time staff members in 2021
  • That is an average of 6.8 jobs created per business
  • In addition, there were 9 Loughborough students given internships or work placements in the same period.

Businesses launched

  • During 2021 LUinc. worked with 43 pre and emerging startups, including; 19 graduate entrepreneurs, 2 academic spinouts and 22 founders from outside the university.

Sectors covered by LUinc. businesses

  • LUinc. businesses operate across a wide range of sectors, from creative industries, to design engineering, sport, health & wellbeing, energy & low carbon and more.
  • In 2021 we launched a series of events and actvities in support of Sports Tech startups, to leverage Loughborough University’s world-class sports ecosystem to support the development of new innovations in the sector.

Patents gained

  • Our businesses applied for or were successfully granted 5 patents for innovative new technologies during 2021.

 

Wayfinder Project

The Wayfinder Project is part-delivered at the Careers and Enterprise Hub in Loughborough town centre. It contributes to levelling up opportunities and economic activity in Loughborough by supporting people into skills and enterprise. It opened in May 2021, having been made possible through £750,000 of initial Town Deal Accelerated Funding.

Learn more

Previous LUinc. companies

Previsico

Previsico spun out of Loughborough in 2019 following two decades of research and development into a world first surface water flood forecasting system. Through the LUinc. system we grew our team rapidly then transitioned to larger space at ATIC. Having raised £1.75m in VC investment in 2021, we plan to employ 70 people by 2024. Being based at Loughborough has been invaluable by enabling us to continue research collaboration and recruit talented graduates and academics.

Dr Avi Baruch
Chief Operating Officer
Previsico

Figura Analytics

We began working with LUinc. after spinning out of Loughborough University in 2021. We raised £180,000 in seed round funding and developed our first two working prototypes. In addition, we engaged in pilot studies with major potential customers in the drinks industry to showcase our capability. LUinc. provided office space, as well as introductions to influential industry-based alumni. We have also received support for several innovation awards which we have won.

Rhush Maugi
Co-founder
Figura Analytics

Beobia

Joining LUinc. gave me the tools, support and confidence I needed to turn my idea into a graduate startup business. Were it not for LUinc. I would likely not have had the courage to take the initial leap. Since being part of LUinc. I have launched my product on Kickstarter, won multiple pitching events, raised pre-seed investment, won Barclays Bank Entrepreneur of 2021/22 and been named an Innovate UK Young Innovator.

Thomas Constant
Founder
Beobia

LUinc.

Get involved with LUinc.

  • Alumni supporters

    Many people who have themselves been through LUinc. or studied at Loughborough University are interested in supporting the innovators of the future. We welcome interest from alumni who share our vision for a thriving Loughborough start-up ecosystem. We share updates on our progress through regular quarterly newsletters and events.

  • Expert mentors

    LUinc. has a database of dozens of leading experts across multiple sectors and specialisms. Many volunteer to tutor, mentor and advise members at no expense or as part of corporate CSR schemes.

  • Investors

    In order for our start-ups to build new products and scale fast, they will often look out for people and organisations interested to invest in their success.
Get involved