The UK feels like a fully coiled spring, ready to unleash. It’s home to many of the finest technical minds on the planet, with four of the world's top ten research universities. But when it comes to turning groundbreaking science into world-changing startups, it’s lagging. The deep tech sector in the UK (population 68M) is a fraction of San Francisco’s (population 800K).1 No place on Earth has a larger gap between the caliber of technical talent and the robustness of the deep tech ecosystem. Bridging that gap is an opportunity for the UK to become a global engine of deep tech innovation and impact.

At Fifty Years, we think we can help. To do so, we've set up shop in the UK. We've opened our first HQ outside San Francisco in London, with five Happy Warriors on the ground.

The heart of our UK effort is Fifty Years’ flagship 5050 company creation program. 5050 is a free, 16-week program designed to help great scientists and engineers become great founders. Its goal is simple: help top technical talent start more indispensable companies. 250 scientists and engineers have graduated from 5050, and over 55 deep tech startups were started out of the program. 5050 alumni are building companies delivering ultrafast DNA sequencing, AI-driven drug discovery, autonomous wind-powered cargo ships, enzymatic textile recycling, and more.

In partnership with the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), we're bringing 5050 to the UK.

When we shared our UK plans, one of our investors pointed us towards two folks already doing great work building entrepreneurial communities for scientists in the UK -- Sir Tony Kouzarides and Steph Avraamides. Steph and Tony co-founded Vellos, an organization with a mission of transforming scientists into founders building paradigm-shifting companies.

Meeting Steph and Tony, we were immediately struck by the alignment. They were high energy happy warriors, shared the same vision for empowering great UK scientists to become great founders, and had already done leading work on the ground. These were our people. We realized combining Fifty Years' Silicon Valley know-how with Vellos' deep roots in the UK would help us achieve our shared mission faster. We're happy to share that Fifty Years and Vellos are joining forces to inspire and empower more UK scientists and engineers to launch indispensable companies!

By joining forces we’re combining the best of both worlds. Vellos brings deep connections to the UK scientific community – Tony and Steph having helped educate over 1,000 scientists, engineers, and clinicians in entrepreneurship. 50Y brings experience creating and supporting deep tech startups – having backed over 100 startups from the earliest stages and helping them raise nearly $5B in follow-on capital.

Tony and Steph are movement builders. In addition to being one of the leading figures in the field of epigenetics and cancer, Tony is one of the UK’s top scientist-founders. He’s founded billion-dollar companies like Abcam and drug discovery startups like Storm and Chroma. He’s also a relentless mentor, helping early-career scientists translate their work into real-world impact. After studying biomedical research at the University of Cambridge, Steph has built and led multiple launchpads and venture-building programs across the UK. Empowering the next generation is her calling.

They’re joined by a dream team of Happy Warriors: Vaitea, Souvid, and Kim.

Vaitea Cowan is a force of nature. At just 23, she co-founded Enapter to replace fossil fuels with renewable hydrogen. She helped take the company public, shaped energy policy across Europe, and deployed over 5,000 electrolyzers to decarbonize power, mobility, and industry. Now, she’s bringing that same intensity and optimism to Fifty Years UK—helping scientists in the 5050 program turn deep tech ideas into startups that can bend the arc of the climate crisis.

Souvid Datta is our in-house worldbuilder. A director, screenwriter, and creative force behind award-winning films at Cannes and Sundance London, he’s helped tech giants, charities, and broadcasters tell stories that matter. At Fifty Years, Souvid helps founders craft the kind of compelling, human-centered narratives that break through the noise. He’s here to bring deep tech into the cultural spotlight, inspiring us all to aim higher.

Kim Tieu is the operational heart of Fifty Years UK. She’s a seasoned Executive Assistant who brings calm to the chaos, clarity to complexity, and a steady hand to a fast-moving mission. With a background in creative writing and a home base that’s spanned four continents, Kim brings sharp organization and unwavering energy to everything we do.

We’ll also be adding a head of talent to the team. If that’s you, reach out!

We couldn’t be more optimistic about the future of the UK. We’ve already kicked off 5050 UK Cohort 1 and the talent and entrepreneurial energy is incredible. In partnership with ARIA, we’ll be running two UK 5050 cohorts a year, empowering UK scientists and engineers to build the next generation of civilizationally important startups. Beyond 5050, we’ll soon be rolling out additional programs and initiatives in the UK to fuel scientific innovation and entrepreneurship (stay tuned!).

Fifty Years gets its name from an essay written in 1931 by Winston Churchill. In Fifty Years Hence, he predicted nuclear power, cultivated meat, genetic engineering, robotics, mobile phones, and more. In times of rapidly accelerating technological progress, the essay also calls upon technologists to be ethical leaders, and deeply consider the societal impact of what and how they build. Given our namesake, this feels in many ways like a homecoming.

50Y 🤝 UK