Showcasing Midlands Unversity Spinouts

Throughout 2026, Forging Ahead hosted multiple 'Midlands Spinout Showcases' as part of the first ever East Mids Tech Week and Climb26. We also supported Midlands spinouts at the inaugural UK Global Science & R&D Investment Summit.

The UK Global Science & R&D Investment Summit

We supported the delivery of the first ever - helping to showcase Midlands university spinouts from the region at the Royal Society in London.

Midlands Mindforge, the investment company dedicated to supporting university spinouts and other science and technology businesses in the Midlands, has completed its first round of investments, marking a major milestone in its mission to scale high鈥憄otential, research鈥憀ed businesses emerging from the Midlands.

A collage of events

East Mids Tech Week

Forging Ahead hosted a dozen university spinouts from across our 16 partners in the heart of our region at Derby's Vaillant Live. 

& introduced to the audience at Vaillant Live how our partnership of 16 universities is working together to supercharge commercialisation - working with the region's expert tech transfer teams to create more spinout companies, licensing opportunities and more.

Then it was the turn of spinout founders , , and Stewart Williams telling their stories and what it will take for their companies to reach new heights here in the region where they were founded.

This was followed by a packed expo stand which saw the spinout teams showcasing their game-changing tech, forging links with each other and investors, conversations which continued as part of a fantastic lunchtime reception.

    A collage of photos from the Midlands Spinout Showcase at East Mids Tech Week
    The Midlands Spinout Showcase saw spinout founders engage with investors on stage, in a dedicated expo area and at a private lunchtime reception.
    A list of the companies participating in The Midlands Spinout Showcase

    Climb26

    In July, Forging Ahead took over the University Zone at Climb26.

    Across the two days, we hosted four panel sessions - from cyber security to toolkits supporting tech transfer professionals - and a roundtable on commercialisation.

    It was also a fantastic opportunity to promote Commercial Champions - the new talentpool of C-suite professionals who can support Midlands spinouts to scale which is set to launch later in 2026. 

    Nick Gostick speaking at Climb26