Queen Mary Innovation, the tech transfer company of Queen Mary University of London, have appointed Dr Tony Raven as Chair.
Dr Tony Raven was previously CEO of Cambridge Enterprise, University of Cambridge. Under his leadership, seed investment grew 730%, spinout creation rose 250%, and the university created four unicorn companies.
The appointment is the latest in an expanding team with big aspirations to create impactful spinouts out of Queen Mary research, following successes like Ultima Forma, Dragonfly AI, and BioMin.
Dr Phil Clare, CEO of Queen Mary Innovation (QMI), comments:
“We’re delighted to welcome Dr Tony Raven as Chair of Queen Mary Innovation. Tony is a proven innovation leader, a serial tech entrepreneur and a highly cited researcher. We have big ambitions at Queen Mary to help our exciting spinouts to grow and succeed, and we look forward to working with Tony to achieve that.”
Dr Tony Raven, QMI’s new Chair, comments:
“Commercial tools are among the best ways to turn top research into real world impact. Queen Mary’s long tradition of commitment to public good, its cultural diversity, and its unique location nestled between the City and Canary Wharf make it the perfect place to turn innovative research into commercial success and central to the area’s regeneration.”
“Whether it’s harnessing AI to predict which cancer drugs will work best, developing a robotic skin that can respond to objects it interacts with, or inventing sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging, Queen Mary are vital contributors to innovation in Britain today.”
Together Phil and Tony bring their significant experience from Oxford and Cambridge to lead Queen Mary’s growth in innovation. Queen Mary was recently awarded top category for IP and commercialisation in Research England’s Knowledge Exchange Framework. A recent London Economics study found the economic impact of Queen Mary’s research and knowledge exchange to be £1.44 billion, contributing to an overall university economic impact of £4.4 billion.
Queen Mary Innovation connect businesses with exciting innovation opportunities, coach academics in how to understand the market for their ideas and find talented CEOs who can lead Queen Mary spinout companies on to future growth. The revenues returned to Queen Mary are used to invest in the next generation of spinouts and entrepreneurs.
Follow QMI’s work on LinkedIn.
For media information, contact: