New Horizons: The UK re-joins leading science and technology programme

In this week’s Friday Focus BVCA Policy Advisor, Olivia Green, reflects on the Government’s decision to re-join the EU’s Horizon programme.

It has been three years since the UK last called itself a member of the European Union’s key programme for research and innovation, but following engagement between Westminster and Brussels, the UK has now secured ‘a bespoke new deal’ to re-join a scientific community that has access to €95.51 billion of funding to advance new technologies in areas such as climate change and developing effective treatments for Alzheimer’s.

Membership to Horizon will provide UK companies and research institutions with significant opportunities to access funding and collaborate with counterparts across Europe and associate countries such as New Zealand and Israel. Dame Kate Bingham, from BVCA member firm SV Health Investors noted that this is ‘fantastic news for the UK’ given that ‘science is so collaborative that not being a part of those collaborations would be a massive loss’.

UK startups will be able to apply for funding and can access additional initiatives including the European Innovation Council’s accelerator programme, which offers a grant of up to €2.5 million to SME’s and startups. The length of time it has taken for a deal to be brokered has been a source of disappointment with VCs emphasising the need to make up for lost time, following the uncertainty since 2020 as to whether scientific and technological research could continue. In 2019, the EU awarded UK scientists with £820 million in funding, according to UK Research Innovation. In 2023, this figure fell to £19 million.

The BVCA welcomes the news and will continue to engage with UK Government on policy decisions to help grow the UK economy and the wider science and technology ecosystem.

Olivia Green
Policy Executive, BVCA