UK Arpa ‘should run like a venture capital fund’

Venture capital model would enable support for riskier research, former head of Innovate UK says

The UK Arpa should be designed in the spirit of a venture capital fund in order to reduce red tape and enable the speed and flexibility required to deliver high-risk, high-returns research, the former head of Innovate UK has advised.

Ruth McKernan, who is now chair of the BioIndustry Association, said the government’s planned research agency “should be thought of as a public sector, new technology venture fund…there to address national security challenges with a focus on speed and delivery”.