Life science incubator BioCity has announced a new partnership which will help develop more start-ups and spin out companies.
The Nottingham-headquartered business collective will operate inside the 'Golden Triangle' - the unofficial group of universities in Cambridge, Oxford, Milton Keynes and London - for the first time after reaching the deal with the Oxford Academic Health Science.
The two organisations plan to launch an Accelerator Programme in Berkshire and South Oxfordshire to grow the area's health and life sciences cluster. It will also aim to support growth companies across the region's research, clinical and commercial base.
Colin Roberts, BioCity venture development director, said: "This is a new geographic area for BioCity, we’re excited to discover some of the new ideas and work with new ventures on our first Accelerator in Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
"The strategic goals of Oxford AHSN are closely aligned with ours; together, we’ll be able to achieve our shared goal of supporting life science innovation at a regional level."
BioCity runs entrepreneur coaching across its UK locations, which includes Aberdeen and Newcastle, which has so far led to more than 100 science entrepreneurs launching businesses.
The collective, founded by the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, is also currently home to more than 200 firms.
Oxford AHSN, meanwhile, provides support to bioscience and biotech firms and has so far secured more than £120 million of investment into its region.
Paul Durrands, COO of the Oxford AHSN, said: "‘In our pursuit to build a business case for change, our collaboration with delivery partners such as BioCity is already making a good impact."
