Exploring the UK’s engineering biology companies
We’ve unpacked the detail behind UK’s Engineering Biology subsector as well as the key components that successful businesses need in order to thrive.
07 February 2024
Our sixth in a series of thought leadership reports, Exploring the UK’s engineering biology companies, has been published in partnership with Beauhurst and funded by the UK Government, to provide a detailed view of the diverse and dynamic components that make up the subsector.
In this thought leadership report, we explore the geographical locations of the UK’s high-growth engineering biology companies – with over 50% of these organisations currently being headquartered within the “golden triangle” of London, Oxford, and Cambridge. Out of these three prominent cities, the University of Cambridge has educated the most company founders. Whereas, the University of Oxford has generated the highest amount of university spinouts.
The highest levels of investment into engineering biology companies comes from Scotland, specifically through Scottish Enterprise, who have directly participated in 131 sizeable deals since 2013. Future Planet Capital, based in London are the second venture capital firm to provide the most investment into engineering biology companies, with a total of 64 deals made since 2013.
Engineering biology is a broad, diverse, and dynamic field, with organisations that specialise in pharmaceuticals, research tools and reagents, as well as genomics operating within it. Due to the complex, interdisciplinary nature of the field, companies that operate within the subsector require specialist facilities to thrive.
Synonymously, individuals aged between 50-59 make up the largest proportion of founders within this space, suggesting that accumulated knowledge, experience, and investment are significant factors that are required for business founders within this discipline.
The UK Government prioritises engineering biology as one of the five critical technologies aimed at bolstering the UK’s ambitions of becoming a science superpower, with the subsector projected to generate between $2-4 trillion, over the next 20 years. As such, the number of high-growth companies operating within the field has also increased by 180% since 2013, aligned with gradual advancements towards mitigating challenges like disease management and famine.
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