Imperial College London convened leading voices from science, business and venture capital in San Francisco for a special reception.
The event featured technologist Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures and one of the world's foremost deep tech venture builders.
Hosted at Entrepreneurs First, in the heart of San Francisco's startup ecosystem, the event explored how deep tech innovation can drive solutions to global challenges and fuel a new era of science-led enterprise between London and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Imperial is the only international university with a dedicated presence in the Bay Area focused on building science, engineering and technology networks. Through its hub, Imperial Global USA, it connects world-class research with investors, entrepreneurs and industry partners across the Atlantic - accelerating the translation of scientific concepts and design ideas into real-world impact.
In conversation with Imperial's Vice-President (Strategic Engagement and Communications), Amanda Wolthuizen, Khosla shared his lessons learned from 40 years in the innovation business, advice he'd give scientists wanting to turn their research into a viable startup, and how technology and AI represent the only scalable pathway to improving the quality of life for all the planet's eight billion inhabitants.
He outlined that the application of AI in science and engineering is dramatically accelerating research pace and discoveries to aid problems that were once seen as insurmountable ranging from cancer and therapeutics to zero pollution materials and fusion energy. This isn't theoretical—it's achievable now, pending societal readiness and policy frameworks for AI adoption.
Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Khosla Ventures invests in experimental technologies such as biomedicine and robotics to help entrepreneurs build impactful technology-based disruptive companies.
A new era of science-led entrepreneurship between WestTech London and the Bay Area
The event builds on the momentum generated by the recent UK-US Tech Prosperity Deal, which was discussed by senior UK and US policymakers at Imperial in London last month. The landmark deal promises to drive new breakthroughs and investment – with potential in fields such as AI for healthcare and delivering cleaner energy.
The UK is Europe's leading centre for technology innovation, venture investment and startup activity. With an estimated value of $1.1 trillion in H1 2024, the UK's innovation ecosystem represents 30% of all European tech value, making it the third most valuable tech geography globally after the United States and China.
London itself ranks as the sixth-largest city in the world by tech value and is the number one destination in Europe for entrepreneurs to found a company.
Imperial is driving deep tech innovation with WestTech London – an innovation ecosystem at the heart of the UK capital that is empowering the future of scientific and technological collaboration.
WestTech London unites partners and stakeholders around a shared mission to unlock the potential of West London's innovation landscape – capitalising on world-class research institutions, a diverse talent pool, rich industrial heritage and major transport links across the UK and to the world to deliver a thriving, globally competitive innovation ecosystem.
It is a new powerhouse for frontier innovation and entrepreneurship that is creating jobs, attracting investment, driving growth and cementing the UK's position as a leader in science and technology.
Speaking at the event, Imperial's President, Professor Hugh Brady, said: "I'm excited to see first-hand how our Imperial Global USA hub has sparked a dynamic flow of ideas, creativity, and talent between the Bay Area and our WestTech London innovation ecosystem in its first year.
"By bringing together world-leading research and a thriving pipeline of science-led ventures, our Bay Area based hub is connecting two of the world's most vibrant innovation ecosystems in using deep tech to solve global challenges."
Supporting deep tech entrepreneurship
The evening concluded with a panel discussion involving Professor Ramana Nanda, Director of Imperial's Institute for Deep Tech Entrepreneurship, and Joe Ros, Partner at Entrepreneurs First. The conversation explored the challenges and opportunities for founders in the Bay Area and WestTech London innovation ecosystems and what lessons they can learn from each other.
Professor Nanda described DT Prime, a pioneering programme at Imperial that supports ventures tackling complex problems where deep science and technology is needed to unlock new markets, reshape industries, and deliver lasting commercial and societal value.
Speaking about it at the event, Professor Nanda said: "We want to be able to deliver to investors companies that have done some of that initial de-risking at a pre-commercial stage which then allows them to go off, raise strong institutional rounds of funding, and really grow aggressively."
Throughout the event, the speakers shared their advice for Imperial founders – think big, get comfortable with risk and find great role models and mentors.
