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- Monthly Update | Sciopolis
5 Nov 2025 Monthly Update Capital alone doesn’t scale Innovation: infrastructure does October brought fresh insights into the UK’s innovation landscape, with the Beauhurst x Parkwalk Advisors Spinout Report 2025 highlighting strong investor confidence in university-led innovation. We are delighted, if somewhat unsurprised, to see the investment market improving. However, capital alone doesn’t scale innovation. Without the right infrastructure, spinouts risk burning through funding on workspace fit-outs in disconnected locations, slowing progress instead of accelerating it. At Sciopolis, we’re working to create that infrastructure every day. Here’s how we did it this month: We deepened Lab supplier relationships at the Lab Innovations event in Birmingham, seeking collaborators, not just vendors, who understand that value goes beyond equipment.. Read more here We explored the future of labs at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s #MoreChemLabs workshop , asking what minimum viable labs look like, and who’s ready to build them. We joined the Innovate Cambridge Summit , where the message was: ideas need capital, but ecosystems need infrastructure. Cambridge is the second most invested innovation hotspot in the world and we need to spread its power to other clusters – like Manchester for example, which we visited this week We stood on the balcony at Old Oak Common , witnessing the scale of HS2 and its potential to supercharge connectivity for our future tenants at #OnePortalWay . We believe you don’t have to build everything everywhere: it’s smarter to connect the dots. We shared our reuse-first approach in our Sensibly Sustainable blog , showing how hyperlocal circularity can be embedded into innovation spaces: simple in theory, harder in practice We celebrated community-led placemaking at North Acton Square where artists and makers are already thriving, and scientists will soon join them at #OnePortalWay . We advanced the AI conversation , from Italian Tech Week to the Ealing AI Conference, exploring what AI infrastructure our tenants will need, which sectors are emerging (is robotics about to have its “ChatGPT moment ” ?) and how we should respond - with excitement, caution.. or both? One Portal Way: as we progress our new innovation hub in North Acton , we’re spending equal time on construction (things going well. Opening in June 2026!) and on building the network and service infrastructure for our tenants that can make a material difference to their scaling. Fancy popping in? If you ever fancy a tour or a nose around, we’re onsite every Tuesday, just get in touch. We have had fantastic feedback to our tours: once you see the scale of what is being built in the area and the innovation potential, the penny really drops. We look forward to seeing you there!
- New Tenant: P.Happi joins 1 Portal Way | Sciopolis
12 May 2026 New Tenant: P.Happi joins 1 Portal Way Second Tenant announced: P.Happi® A pioneering UK women’s health startup is bringing microbiome-based manufacturing to our North Acton Innovation Hub from July 2026 — a different sector to our first tenant, but the same story of science moving from research into scale. We’re delighted to announce P.Happi ® a pioneering UK women’s health startup developing microbiome-based products, as the second company to take up space at our new Innovation Hub at 1 Portal Way, North Acton. P.Happi ® will establish laboratory facilities at 1 Portal Way to scale the production of its patented microbiome-based active ingredient, Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus (B.Y.M. ® 1405) a naturally occurring bacterium at the heart of the company’s consumer health range. The move marks a critical step in P.Happi ® ’s evolution from research-led startup into a manufacturer capable of supporting more women with its intimate health solutions, while remaining embedded in the Imperial College London ecosystem. “P.Happi ® ’s journey is a strong example of how science-led ideas can progress from early research into real-world impact. Chiara founded the company within the Imperial ecosystem, and it’s exciting to see P.Happi® now taking the important step into manufacturing at Sciopolis. This is exactly the kind of transition we aim to support — enabling talented founders to stay connected to Imperial while gaining the space and infrastructure needed to scale responsibly.” Graham Hewson, Head of Incubation & Prototyping Spaces, Imperial College London From lived experience to a manufacturing-ready company P.Happi ® was founded by Dr Chiara Board , a scientist-turned-entrepreneur with a PhD from Imperial College London. The company began from a lived problem rather than a piece of technology: a frustration with the lack of innovation in women’s intimate health, where recurrent issues such as UTIs are too often managed with short-term interventions rather than approaches that support long-term microbiome balance. Founded within the Imperial innovation ecosystem and supported by Imperial Incubator, Imperial Enterprise Lab and the WE Innovate programme, P.Happi ® has since raised backing from leading investors including Mithril Capital, Calm/Storm, Firstminute Capital, Active Partners and SOSV. Its products are now sold at Boots and Pharmacy2U. After amazing reviews, and the company selling out of product, the next chapter is scaling its manufacturing. From its lab at 1 Portal Way, a small team will produce the active ingredient powder that sits at the core of P.Happi ® ’s product range. Producing on site allows the company to scale responsibly, maintain quality, and reduce reliance on a single external manufacturing partner. “You can have great innovation, but if it stays on the bench it never reaches people who can benefit from it. Frustrated by my own health journey, our mission has always been to bring meaningful innovation into women’s health and empower women with solutions they can easily access and use to better support themselves. Manufacturing is the step that turns science into impact. Being able to manufacture at Sciopolis, in a space that fully understands how scientists operate and is backed by Imperial, gives us the confidence to scale production without unnecessary risk or disruption, and to support more women with their intimate health.” Dr Chiara Board — Founder, P.Happi ® Why manufacturing is the missing middle The UK has world-class science, but too often it gets stuck at the bench. Scale-up infrastructure and commercial translation are where things break down, and that’s exactly the gap we are aiming to close. For a company at the production stage, the requirements are practical: cost-effective lab space that fits the margins of a scaling business, shared equipment that reduces capital outlay and a stable home that won’t disappear in twelve months. With Imperial College London behind 1 Portal Way, Sciopolis offers the kind of long-term commitment that matters when you’re housing critical equipment and planning a production run rather than a pilot. As Chiara says: “I can’t afford to move equipment around - there’s always a risk something breaks. Knowing that Imperial is behind this gives me the confidence that the space won’t fold or vacate next year and we have a home to continuously produce and grow. Staying part of that great ecosystem matters.” Part of a growing cluster P.Happi ® ’s arrival places them inside Imperial’s emerging Old Oak Innovation Cluster , part of WestTech London. They join Ki Hydrogen- our first tenant, announced in March- as part of a community of up to 30 science and technology scale-ups that 1 Portal Way is designed to support. The cluster also includes Imperial’s nearby advanced manufacturing site, Grapht Works , a 9.6-acre industrial estate situated 5 minutes away from 1 Portal Way, that is being repurposed for prototyping and pilot-scale manufacturing. The proximity allows tenants to move easily between laboratory and office space at 1 Portal Way and larger production facilities a short walk away. Different sector, same challenge Where Ki Hydrogen is tackling clean energy and P.Happi ® is advancing women’s microbiome health, the underlying challenge they share is the same: getting from research into reliable, repeatable production without leaving London or the network they grew up in. That’s what 1 Portal Way is built for: 55,000 sq ft of fully fitted CL2 laboratories and flexible offices, with shared amenities, a café, and direct connections to Imperial Incubator’s support and network through an on-site Lab Manager. No upfront capital investment, and the stability of a hub developed in partnership with Imperial College London. “P.Happi’s arrival demonstrates the breadth of innovation Sciopolis is designed to support. While operating in a very different sector to our first tenant, the challenge is the same — supporting ambitious science-led businesses as they move from innovation into manufacturing. Sciopolis exists to enable that transition in a stable, cost-effective environment that allows companies to grow without leaving London.” Charlie Mitchell, CEO, Sciopolis More to come: want to join us? We’ll be announcing more tenants in the weeks ahead as we count down to our June opening. If your company is looking for space to grow, check out our available labs and office space in North Acton and please get in touch . To come and have a look, pls contact us to get onto one of our TuesdayTours ABOUT P.HAPPI®: P.Happi® | Microbiome protection for your intimate area
- Origin Public Consultation: see what is being proposed and have your say. | Sciopolis
11 Mar 2025 Origin Public Consultation: see what is being proposed and have your say.
- One Portal Way, Old Oak - Sciopolis Appointment | Sciopolis
31 July 2025 One Portal Way, Old Oak - Sciopolis Appointment Imperial to launch new scale-up space for science and technology ventures in partnership with Sciopolis, delivering urgently needed affordable lab space for London Imperial College London is progressing the innovation-led regeneration of Old Oak with the launch of a new scale-up space for science and tech firms that delivers urgently needed affordable lab space for London One Portal Way, Old Oak is being delivered through a partnership of Imperial and Sciopolis, specialists in flexible, ready-to-occupy lab and office space. It has been designed to meet the needs of innovative scale-ups and will open its doors in mid-2026 The new facility is part of Imperial’s Old Oak Innovation Cluster , which brings together commercial spaces for innovation-led, high growth businesses and accommodation for more than 1,500 Imperial students and key workers Over the next decade, Imperial plans to transform its assets within the Old Oak area to create London’s new innovation and advanced manufacturing hub Imperial’s campus is part of the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area, London’s largest brownfield regeneration area, which is being delivered by OPDC, and at the heart of WestTech London, a globally significant innovation ecosystem that is igniting frontier innovation and cementing the UK’s position as a science superpower. Read the full coverage in The Standard Imperial College London is launching a new scale-up space for science and technology ventures, One Portal Way, Old Oak , helping to alleviate London’s shortage of affordable lab space and enabling rapidly growing businesses to remain in London as they scale. This new facility not only addresses the shortage of affordable specialist lab space in London, which threatens to hold back the growth of the UK’s science and tech sectors, particularly for startups looking to scale. It also creates a distinctive offer which enables direct connection and support from the world’s leading STEMB university, giving emerging businesses an unrivalled opportunity to grow at pace. One Portal Way, Old Oak will reinvent an existing building into 55,000 sq ft of fully fitted lab and office space, ready to occupy by a community of up to 30 scale-ups in mid-2026. The new facility is part of Imperial’s Old Oak Innovation Cluster, which brings together commercial spaces for innovation-led businesses and accommodation for more than 1,500 Imperial undergraduate students, staff and key workers. Imperial is partnering with Sciopolis – specialists in flexible, ready-to-occupy lab and office space – to develop and operate the space. Occupiers will benefit from the support of Imperial Incubator, the university’s home for early-stage lab-based companies, who will provide on-site assistance and facilitate connections to Imperial’s innovation ecosystem. Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial, said : “The UK, and London specifically, is exceptional at discovery science - but we risk becoming a place where great ideas are born, but cannot grow. One of the most urgent challenges is the lack of specialist, affordable lab and grow-on space. Our new innovation facility in Old Oak is a direct response to this challenge, a flexible, ready-to-use space that combines top-tier lab infrastructure with connection to a global university, creative industries, manufacturing capability and exceptional local, national and international transport connections.” Sciopolis CEO, Charlie Mitchell, said: “We know how challenging it is for startups and scaleups to secure suitable and affordable laboratory space. Speed is of the essence, as many ventures are being held back by the lack of grow-on infrastructure, which is why we are partnering with Imperial and other landlords to rapidly convert well-located, unused office and industrial space into innovation hubs with labs, amenities, and support. These spaces are designed to act as catalysts, attracting innovators and quickly building vibrant communities. One Portal Way, Old Oak is a prime example: a building bursting with potential to transform an area and launch a new chapter for Imperial in Old Oak.” Imperial’s One Portal Way, Old Oak will catalyse the transformation of Old Oak, within London’s largest regeneration zone, and play a role in supporting the major development pipeline for the local area which is being led by OPDC with the close involvement of other strategic partners including Ealing Council. In the future, the wider area will benefit from the Old Oak Common Station superhub, which is set to be the UK’s best-connected rail interchange with HS2, the Elizabeth line, Great Western Main Line and Heathrow Services. Imperial’s Old Oak Innovation Cluster is already well connected to central London and the UK via the Elizabeth line, central line and A40, and adjacent to Park Royal, the UK’s largest industrial area which is home to c.1,700 business and supports over 40,000 jobs. One Portal Way is less than 10 minutes from Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus. Located at the heart of WestTech London, the creation of One Portal Way, Old Oak ignites Imperial’s plans for the long-term transformation of its assets in the Old Oak area and supports its commitment to make West London the science and technology growth engine for the UK. WestTech London is an emerging innovation ecosystem that will become a globally recognised powerhouse for investment, economic growth and job creation, cementing the UK’s position as a leader in science and technology. WestTech London is bringing together industry, investors, universities, NHS trusts, local authorities, developers and government to fuel innovation and drive global impact. Ealing Council’s Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal, Ealing Council’s lead member for decent living incomes, added : “Our borough is at the heart of WestTech London and our role as a national centre for science and technology is growing all the time. Our jobs and skills strategy – which is aligned with the National Industrial Strategy and London Growth Plan - highlights science and innovation as a priority growth sector for the borough, which can deliver thousands more well-paid jobs for residents over the coming years. The plans coming to fruition at One Portal Way will bring new businesses here that will help to grow our economy. We look forward to continuing to our joint working with Imperial and OPDC, establishing Old Oak as London’s new town for frontier innovation.” OPDC’s Chief Executive David Lunts says : “OPDC’s regeneration of Old Oak will create a revitalised urban district for West London, bringing major new investment into the local economy alongside thousands of new jobs, affordable homes and transformed public realm. Old Oak will deliver over 8,000 new and affordable homes, 6 acres of green open space and up to 2m sq ft of workspace." Imperial’s Old Oak Campus includes student accommodation and key worker homes, with 1,500 students and staff currently resident in the area, as well as the 9.6 acre Victoria Industrial Estate, which Imperial is repurposing to provide vital prototyping and advanced manufacturing follow-on space for scaling businesses. Imperial has ambitious plans for its assets in the Old Oak area which will support c. 4 million sq ft of additional development, including the long-term redevelopment of the broader 4.5 acre One Portal Way site. Imperial’s redevelopment of the One Portal Way site will deliver a new green heart for Old Oak, including a major new public garden, retail, amenities and services, alongside new homes across various tenures, including student accommodation, and 300,000 sq ft of flexible workspace. For more information about the scale-up space or to book a tour visit sciopolis.co.uk/oneportalway
- #1 Reuse first | Sciopolis
17 Sept 2025 #1 Reuse first Sensibly Sustainable #1 : Reuse First Reuse isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t sparkle like innovation and it doesn’t grab headlines. But it’s quietly powerful. At One Portal Way, the reuse story starts with the building itself. What was once a standard office block is now being transformed into an Innovation Hub—not through demolition, but through a meanwhile retrofit. That decision alone is a massive act of sustainability. It means working with the structure that’s already there, extending its life and avoiding the carbon cost of starting from scratch. And that mindset has shaped every decision inside the building too. The desks and furniture left behind weren’t brand new—but they were solid, well-made, and full of potential. It would’ve been easy to start fresh. Order new. Throw the old in the skip and send it away. But we didn’t. Instead, we asked ourselves can we use what’s in front of us? And if not us (there were LOTS of chairs and desks), who else can use it? This approach takes time. Reuse isn’t the quick option. It means thinking about who might need something, reaching out, teeing it up, making yourself available. It means storing things carefully, coordinating repairs and trusting that the effort is worth it. You have to want it. Many of the desks that we already had are now being stored safely while the space is reimagined, and they’ll be repaired and adjusted with some help from the brilliant team at Sagal —ready to return in June 2026, refreshed and fit for purpose. Other things that were left behind in the building have found new homes. Planters and garden chairs have gone to our friends at Republic of Park Royal, on Minerva Road, with lots of other bits and pieces. A giant screen, once the centrepiece of a Microsoft Teams-enabled meeting room and now made unusable by technology obsolescence ( Charlie covered it in a post here ) , was carried (by hand!) by Johnny Brewin to the Foundry bar, where it now lives on in its second act. And, in a slightly more unexpected twist, one of our sinks has been claimed by the Imperial College facilities team, and it’s now going to be used in one of their kitchens. Sometimes reuse is practical. Sometimes it’s poetic. Sometimes it’s just a bit random. But always, it’s rooted in care. At Sciopolis, we believe sustainability starts with common sense. Not what’s trendy, not always the shiny new ball, but what’s necessary. And right now, what’s necessary is a shift from novelty to longevity. So next time you’re planning a space, a project ( or even a meal!) ask yourself: what can I reuse and repurpose? You might find the answer is already in front of you. Interested in updates like this? Follow us on LinkedIn and sign up to our Monthly Newsletter
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