Activation Partners
Empowering talent and supporting science translation across our opportunity spaces
Meet our Activation Partners
Made up of fourteen deeply technical and highly entrepreneurial organisations, our Activation Partners are pioneers of new science innovation models, the application of AI to accelerate research and the translation of deep-tech breakthroughs into real world impact.
Some of them were already established players in the UK, while others have set up operations here for the first time as part of our partnership, strengthening the infrastructure, expertise and networks available to ambitious UK R&D.
Together, they’re creating new scientific talent pipelines, fostering novel IP in the UK, and facilitating more investments within the UK R&D ecosystem to ensure the breakthrough R&D we fund has a seamless route to societal impact.
Adaptyv
Adaptyv Bio is building one of the UK’s first AI-native biology testbeds, giving ARIA-funded researchers access to automated, high-throughput protein design, synthesis and testing without building or running their own lab.
Amodo
Amodo Design is a Sheffield-based engineering consultancy working with our programmes to develop hardware and prototypes for frontier research. Our partnership helps ARIA-funded teams move from invention to real-world use faster, ensuring that the pace and translation of our R&D is not held back by a lack of access to hardware.
BioInnovation Institute
BioInnovation Institute is an international life science incubator. It will bring its Acceleration Platform to the UK, providing entrepreneurial training, venture-building support and translational expertise to ARIA-funded researchers. Its Explore and Build tracks will support academics pursuing spinouts and incorporated startups.
Cambridge NeuroWorks
Cambridge NeuroWorks, supported by Cambridge University Health Partners, is bringing together a UK-wide community of research, clinical and translational organisations to drive breakthroughs and patient impact in our Scalable Neural Interfaces opportunity space. Its two fellowship programmes enable the exploration of speculative neurotechnology ideas and their subsequent translation to patients.
Convergent Research
Convergent Research identifies and develops Focused Research Organisations (FRO) within our opportunity spaces. Working with our Programme Directors and the UK research ecosystem, Convertent runs the FRO Founder Residency to refine concepts and has launched two UK FROs, creating a new route for scientists to pursue ambitious, large-scale research projects.
Edinburgh Genome Foundry
Edinburgh Genome Foundry, supported by the University of Edinburgh, is a world-leading centre for large-scale gene editing across diverse cell types. They will add AI-enabled capabilities to their automated engineering-biology platform, helping ARIA-funded researchers safely programme new functions into living organisms and building lasting UK capability at the intersection of AI and biology.
Fifty Years
Through the 5050 company-creation programme, Fifty Years equips scientists and engineers with the skills, networks and confidence to build companies across our opportunity spaces, helping scientists develop as founders and translate their breakthrough research into civilisational impact.
Google DeepMind
Google DeepMind is working with us to accelerate research through transformational AI. The partnership gives researchers early access to AI for Science capabilities and includes Science 2030, bringing together government, technology and scientific leaders to explore AI-driven science, its trade-offs and societal impacts. Google DeepMind’s partnership with ARIA does not include a funded component.
Newlab
Newlab is a venture platform that has scaled more than 300 hard-tech companies. With ARIA, it will build its first UK translation platform, connecting ARIA-funded researchers with manufacturers, testbeds, industry partners and investors to help scale discoveries and move prototypes towards real-world testing.
Nucleate UK
Nucleate UK supports scientists to translate their research through companies by building a deeply connected global biotech ecosystem. Through its Activator accelerator and Eco track, Nucleate supports biotechnology for sustainability and climate within our Programmable Plants opportunity space, while connecting scientists with mentors and investors.
Open Athena
Open Athena is a nonprofit that builds open, frontier computational models for science. With ARIA, it will embed engineers with ARIA-funded research teams to harness large-scale compute, developing models, code and data that will be released openly for researchers beyond ARIA to build on.
Pillar VC
Encode: AI for Science is a one year fellowship, for leading AI researchers to be paired with, and solve, high-impact scientific challenges with AI/ML. Fellows are embedded in UK labs to apply AI to research in our opportunity spaces, with access to salary, compute, partnerships and datasets.
Renaissance Philanthropy
Renaissance Philanthropy works with us to support the development of Frontier Research Contractors: organisations built to tackle ambitious technical challenges for real-world users. It also delivers a Big If True Science Accelerator programme for ARIA Programme Directors and Science & Technology Leads.
Venture Café
Venture Café is bringing its global innovation community to the UK with ARIA. Through hubs in London, Edinburgh and Manchester, it connects innovators, entrepreneurs, businesses, and more through public weekly gatherings that link our opportunity spaces with the wider innovation ecosystem to bring in new talent and ideas.
Live opportunities + events
Explore the latest events and opportunities to engage with our Activation Partners.