Research and development (or R&D) is undertaken by ambitious startups and high-growth businesses looking to introduce new products or services. At Beauhurst, they use R&D expenditure as an indicator of a company’s growth trajectory, and its ability to innovate within competitive markets.
Recognising how instrumental it is for economic growth and the wider startup ecosystem, the UK Government encourages R&D investment through various incentives and tax relief schemes, including R&D tax credits for SMEs and the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) for large companies.
Meanwhile, a record amount (£22b) of public spending has been committed to R&D this year, with the launch of the Government’s new Innovation Strategy. Alongside this, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng laid out further plans to capitalise on the UK’s successful vaccine response, aimed at boosting private sector investment post-Brexit. Reforms are expected to include greater access to capital, pro-innovation policies, and a reduction in red tape.
Looking to “rekindle our country’s flame of innovation and discovery”, the Innovation Strategy will focus on seven key industries for UK innovation: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing; AI, Digital and Advanced Computing; Bioinformatics and Genomics; Engineering Biology; Electronics, Photonics, and Quantum; Energy and Environment Technologies; Robotics and Smart Machines.
Beauhurst put together a list of the UK’s 14 most innovative startups, based on their total R&D spend last year. These top startups, defined as those in the seed or venture stages of evolution, will play a vital role in shaping the UK’s position as a global leader in innovation. Despite the wealth of sectors that benefit from research and development, biotech, pharmaceutical, and software tech startups dominate the ranking, all operating in R&D-intensive industries.
Launched in 2009, Celixir develops cell and gene therapies to treat incurable or poorly-treated diseases. Celixir operates several companies under its brand: Celixir Innovations, Desktop Genetics, Cell Therapy, and Sirna. Their R&D activities are focused on bringing life-saving regenerative medicines to market.
Based in the West Midlands, Celixir attended the London Stock Exchanges Group’s ELITE accelerator in 2017, an 18-month programme supporting growing companies. And with more than £10.2m of equity investment raised so far, alongside £222k in innovation grants and 20 tissue-specific regenerative medicines in the pipeline, we can expect big things from the pharmaceuticals company.
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