About UCL Ventures

A breakthrough in a UCL lab can take years to reach the outside world. When it finally does, it carries the UCL name with it. So does every partner and investor that comes along with it.

For UCL Ventures, the team that takes UCL’s research to market, protecting the university’s reputation is crucial. Behind every deal sits one question: who exactly are we going into business with, and what hidden risks come with them?

UCL Ventures turns research from one of the world’s leading universities into real-world impact. Its team of business managers works closely with academics across UCL’s departments, identifying promising innovations and packaging them for market. Their mission is to generate commercial value and maximise impact from UCL’s research, without compromising the university’s reputation.

The Challenge

Alongside the team’s focus on protecting the university from reputational risk, they also work to safeguard against cyber security threats and fraud. The stakes are high: much of the technology they handle is commercially sensitive, and the team must stay up to date on a growing body of legislation around national security and economic crime. The university also holds clear positions on who it will and won’t be associated with, such as having no links to the tobacco industry.

“Our mission is to derive commercial value and generate impact, but we have to make sure we don’t damage the reputation of the university by associating it with people it wouldn’t want to be associated with.” — Hamish Bennett, General Counsel and Company Secretary, UCL Ventures

The biggest exposure comes from counterparties such as a licensee, a co-investor, or a company ultimately owned by a family trust with a complicated past. When Hamish Bennett joined as General Counsel, these checks relied on the experience and care of individual business managers, who researched each party to understand who sat behind an investor or partner. It was diligent work, but time-consuming. Without a dedicated tool, it was hard to achieve the same depth on every deal.

Drawing on his private-sector experience, Hamish saw an opportunity to strengthen the process further.

The Solution

Hamish looked to UCL itself, where the research team was already using Xapien to vet research partnerships. UCL Ventures decided to bring in Xapien to replace ad hoc searching.

The team uses Xapien when approaching newer or less familiar third parties.

  • Licensing deals: The team uses Xapien following early conversations with companies, and right before interest crystallises into a serious lead.
  • Spin-outs: Xapien is used to screen new investors, particularly in early financing rounds for spin-out companies.

Xapien is built into the approval process. A transaction can’t be recommended for signing until the team has confirmed whether a Xapien search was needed and, if so, that the results were discussed.

When a report raises a flag, business managers escalate to Hamish. He and the team read the full report, form a view and decide whether the issue can be resolved internally. When necessary, the team may bring a matter to the university itself. In this case, they present a concise summary and recommendation, with the full Xapien report available for anyone who wants to read more.

The Results

Xapien has already surfaced red flags that the old approach would have missed. Recent reports have found adverse findings about prospective partners and early-stage investors, issues the team was previously unaware of. In each case, the team could investigate the context properly and give UCL the chance to weigh in before any commitment was made.

“Xapien has picked up crucial information that traditional desktop searching would have missed. It’s helped us protect the university from the potential of negative headlines.” — Hamish Bennett, General Counsel and Company Secretary, UCL Ventures

This early visibility helps the university catch issues before the first financing round or licence signing, protecting both the university’s reputation and the value of its investments.

But for Hamish, the biggest change is confidence.

“The biggest influence has been the confidence that we are doing what we should be doing to be guardians of the university’s reputation. And not only being better at it, but being able to demonstrate to the university how much more sophisticated we are at it.” — Hamish Bennett, General Counsel and Company Secretary, UCL Ventures

What was once a set of searches is now a disciplined, auditable process, backed by a platform the team trusts.

“I have confidence in what’s happening behind the scenes. Knowing Xapien is scouring all of these available sources means you can have real faith in the tool.” — Hamish Bennett, General Counsel and Company Secretary, UCL Ventures