Why more R&D‑led businesses are rethinking how they grow and how the right environment can make a real difference
For a long time, many R&D‑led businesses followed a familiar path: raise investment, hit milestones, raise again, and work towards an eventual exit.
That route still exists, but for many of the businesses we work with, it’s no longer something they can rely on in quite the same way.
Across sectors like deep tech, biotech, medtech and advanced manufacturing, we’re seeing a common challenge emerge. Strong technology is still essential, but in a more uncertain funding landscape, it’s not always enough on its own. Increasingly, the pressure point is liquidity and how to maintain momentum when funding takes longer to secure.
That’s where the right environment can make a real difference.
A changing investment landscape
Conversations with the businesses based here reflect a clear shift. Investment is taking longer to land, decision-making is slower, and investors are being more selective particularly around long-term technical risk.
For companies that were built around relatively predictable funding cycles, that change can be difficult to navigate.
What we aim to provide is a bit more stability around that uncertainty with flexible space, manageable overheads, and access to a peer community through networks like The Wire. It means businesses have more room to adapt when timelines shift.
Built in resilience, not just growth
In stronger markets, it made sense for many R&D businesses to plan around their next funding round. Hiring, development timelines and spend were often aligned to that expectation.
What we’re seeing now is a need to rebalance that approach.
At the Centre, we work with businesses to stay flexible whether that’s through short-term leases, the ability to scale space up or down, or access to experienced support teams who understand the realities of growing an R&D-led company.
It’s about helping businesses adjust pace without losing direction.
More than one route to value
Equity funding is an important part of the picture. But increasingly, the businesses here are exploring additional ways to strengthen their position and extend runway. They might include:
- generating revenue earlier
- finding new ways to use existing assets
- reducing reliance on future funding rounds
- building more flexibility into how they operate
Being part of a community of like-minded businesses makes a big difference here. Sharing challenges, ideas and approaches often lead to new ways of thinking about growth.
Making intellectual property work harder
Many of the companies we support have valuable IP, but in tougher conditions, we’re seeing a shift in how that value is used. Rather than holding everything for a future exit, some businesses are exploring:
- licensing into adjacent or international markets
- forming development partnerships
- carving out non‑core applications
- using IP with joint ventures
These conversations often happen more naturally within an innovation environment, where access to partners, advisors and other businesses can open up new opportunities.
Rethinking consultancy and services income
Consultancy or services work isn’t right for every business, but it is something more founders are reconsidering.
When approached in the right way, it can:
- bring in non-dilutive income
- strengthen industry relationships
- support longer-term development goals
Within the Centre, businesses are able to test and refine these approaches, supported by access to networks, collaborators and potential customers.
Collaboration as a practical route
We’re also seeing more interest in joint ventures and strategic partnerships.
They can be more complex than traditional funding routes, but for the right business, they offer a way to share risk, cost and expertise; particularly for platform technologies or businesses with multiple applications.
Being part of a visible, connected innovation community makes those relationships easier to build.
A shift in mindset
Perhaps the biggest change is how businesses think about themselves.
More founders are asking:
- Are we a product business, a platform, or an IP company?
- What capabilities do we have that others value right now?
- What’s the right route to value in the short term, as well as the long term?
The businesses that navigate this well are often the ones willing to be flexible in how they define themselves.
That’s something we actively support, by connecting founders with peers, mentors and support teams who understand the pressures of scaling R&D-led businesses.
Resilience beyond the lab
The traditional venture backed model isn’t disappearing, but it’s no longer the default for everyone.
What we’re seeing here is that success is coming not just from strong science, but from the ability to adapt, in how businesses are funded, structured and grown.
Our role as a Centre is to support that, providing the space, flexibility and connections that help businesses stay resilient, whatever the funding environment looks like.
Looking for a space that supports innovation beyond funding rounds? Get in touch to find out how our Centre can support your business.