Forging Ahead

About Forging Ahead

Forging Ahead is a bold, £16 million project, set to transform the Midlands into a globally recognised hub for innovation, commercialisation and venture creation. Backed by Research England’s Connecting Capabilities Fund, this 5-year programme is working across 16 universities in the Midlands, led by Loughborough University. One of the largest university collaborations in the UK, the Forging Ahead project aims to enable more commercialisation opportunities, joint ventures and spinout businesses to grow here in the region, which in turn create jobs, attract investment and drive economic growth across the Midlands. Here's how our partnership of 16 universities is doing that: 1. We’re Unlocking Potential - by building a new talent pipeline of commercial and domain experts who spinouts companies can bring into fuel their growth. We’re also unlocking potential of our the region's university commercialisation teams through a dedicated peer-to peer learning programme. 2. We're Empowering Research Commercialisaiton - through expanding a number of proven training programmes and opening up new pathways to commercialisation. 3. And we’re Connecting the Ecosystem – bringing university commercial teams, founders, investors, policymakers and innovators closer together than ever before through 'Forging Links' and the Midlands Ecosystem Platform on Dealroom. It’s time to put the Midlands firmly on the map as a destination to scale up thriving businesses fuelled by university research. Our 16 university partners: Aston University, Birmingham City University, University of Birmingham, Coventry University, Cranfield University, De Montfort University, University of Derby, Keele University, University of Lincoln, University of Leicester, Loughborough University, Nottingham Trent University, University of Nottingham, University of Warwick and Wolverhampton University.