What:
Social enterprises act to both address specific social challenges whilst also operating as commercial businesses. Unlike other commercial business models, profits are not generated for the benefit of shareholders, but to meet social objectives and benefit stakeholders. Much like other businesses, social enterprises can be structured and operate in a variety of different ways. Their uniting feature is a focus on aligning commercial interests with addressing social problems.
Examples:
In terms of relevancy to scientific research and deep tech ventures, there are several roles social enterprises may play.
- Commercialisation
There is some evidence of increasing engagement with social enterprises as a means to commercialise scientific research outputs. The UKRI outlines the benefits of such collaborations, particularly to access forms of funding, such as charitable funding, not available to purely for-profit business models.
There are social enterprises which exist precisely to do this, such as Evidence to Impact which operates to translate research findings into products, services and interventions.
There are also Universities investing resources into supporting academics towards meeting social and environmental problems by creating their own social enterprises. For example, the University of Oxford’s Social Support Scheme has broadened the University’s approach towards commercialisation, to include socially focused enterprises as well as traditional profit-driven spin-outs and start-ups.
- Collaboration
Beyond this, social enterprises can also operate as collaborators in scientific research. In the context of the UK, this is commonly seen in applied research contexts, where participatory and community research methodologies are applied. There are a variety of networks, organisations and infrastructures that support these collaborations. The Community Research and Engagement Network (CoREN), for example, supports participatory research in health and social care through fostering collaborations with a variety of groups and organisations, including social enterprises. Beyond this, there are also social enterprises which directly provide data for researchers. For example, The Optimum Patient Care Research Database (OPCRD) provides de-identified electronic health records to support the work of health researchers.
Deep tech considerations:
- Social enterprises provide routes to forms of funding that are not accessible to other business models, which may be worth considering.
- Deep tech ventures are often dependent on productive collaborations between various actors to ensure access to various forms of expertise. In this respect, social enterprises may provide useful insights into social challenges at ground level.
- In a similar vein, social enterprises may provide opportunities to pilot and test innovations in real-world settings. This is particularly relevant where deep tech outputs are intended to address social or environmental challenges.
- If working in the context of a university, researchers could gain support towards creating their own social enterprise to commercialise research findings – although this is dependent on which university researchers are affiliated with.
- If considering solely collaborating with a singular social enterprise there could be challenges relating to its size and capacity. Social enterprises in the UK tend to be small organisations with limited employee numbers and resources, required for complex deep tech ventures.
- The social mission of a social enterprise could form an area of mutual interest and alignment if deep tech ventures seek to address similar issues.
More information:
Social Enterprise UK (2025) All about social enterprise. Available at: https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/all-about-social-enterprise/ (Accessed: 2 July 2026).
UK Research and Innovation (2026) A closer look at social enterprise and social science research. Available at: https://www.ukri.org/councils/esrc/impact-toolkit-for-economic-and-social-sciences/how-to-commercialise-your-research/a-closer-look-at-social-enterprise-and-social-science-research/ (Accessed: 2 July 2026).