Fifty Years

We're hiring a Head of UK. The UK is a global powerhouse of invention. 3 of the top 10 research universities are here. We're out to inspire and equip scientists and engineers in the UK to become great founders and build civilisation-defining companies.

Fifty Years x Crick Science Entrepreneur Network (CSEN) event Scientist to Founder: Building the UK’s Next Wave of Deeptech Startups is live ???? Great insights from Seth Bannon during the fireside discussion with Tessa Swanton

?? Fifty years is coming to the UK ?? 5?? 0?? ???? Who is 50Y? 5?? 0?? ????♂? Fifty Years is venture studio and a fund backed by?46 founders?of $1B+ tech companies who want to help the next generation of founders change the world for the better. ?? But what's so special about them coming to UK? ?? This is one of the big plays Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) is making to drive an even bolder, more visionary UK innovation culture. Culture has to be my favourite, of the many, reasons to be excited about the new London-Silicon Valley connection. When I met some of the 50Y team in San Francisco, what blew me away was their egoless, welcoming culture of visionary curiousity. ???? ?????? ?? I was invited to the bright, beautiful and expansive 50Y House for the purpose of meeting with Alejandra Borda but I soon felt like an honourary 50Y member admiring their gallery of founder's first prototypes and the psychadelic posters describing their core values (snaps in comments). ?? We were soon whiteboarding and riffing on venture communities of practice and scalable startup spaces, in a room with bombastic beanbags. ?? Our "quick tour" of the 50Y House kept getting interrupted because everyone I met looked up from their laptop and made time to understand DSV and ask great questions. ???? Then an AI unconference was starting at the House and so - I was invited! And got lost in conversation with Allison Duettmann from Foresight Institute and Barney Pell from Radical Ventures?? When I bumped into Seth Bannon he instantly saw the connection between what we do and a program he was designing with a US uni and invited me to dinner to swap notes. ???? Alas, I couldn't make it! Nonetheless, Seth kindly agreed to share his passion for startup culture-change in higher education in general - one of his "three great rants" ?? - and his enthusiasm for the Venture Science Doctorate in particular - at our launch event! ?? (come to think of it... George Freeman FRSA MP was also at that launch and was sort of influential in establishing ARIA... ??) ??Why is this a game-changer for UK? ?? Much ink has been spilt ?? in critique of the UK innovation landscape... On Funding (Sir Paul Nurse's RDI Landscape Report) On academic culture (UKRI's People and Culture Strategy), On racism (Jason Arday "Dismantling Racism in Higher Education", Akala's "Natives"). But only a few organisations are showing us how to change. The Catapult Network, Techscaler in Scotland and now ARIA - all outlier models, driving innovation culture change. 50Y are refreshingly and extraodinarily down to earth which is admirable considering what a crazy effective venture studio they are. Approachability is the tech cluster super power that got 1,000s of founders in the door, kickstarting Silicon Valley. I believe the UK's incredible founders can use more door openers and we just gained a giant. But don't take my word meet them - they're in London right now.

We're hiring a team in London to build this! 1/ Head of UK 2/ Program lead 3/ Data engineer 4/ Product hacker 5/ Head of content 6/ Recruiter hello AT fiftyyears DOT com with your CV/LinkedIn and a note about why this excites you. Tag someone you think could be great!

Make something civilization needs.

Thrilled to see Seth Bannon and Ela Madej of Fifty Years bringing their vision and support to the UK through the 5050 program! When Alexander Lorestani and I made the leap from grad school to founding Geltor, Fifty Years was among the first to believe in our mission. Their backing and advice were invaluable as we navigated those early days. If you're a scientist or engineer in the UK with big ideas, this is a fantastic opportunity to connect with a team that truly understands how to turn visionary science into impactful companies. Highly recommend checking out this new program!

Hey ???? entrepreneurs and scientists, this is great news. You might have heard of ARIA, the ???? new R&D funding agency aims to unlock big scientific & technological breakthroughs that can benefit everyone. Fewer of you will have heard of Fifty Years (5050) who are proven investors that back scientists looking to successfully tackle the world's biggest problems as entrepreneurs. 5050 are led by awesome founders Ela Madej & Seth Bannon who are fellow Y Combinator S12 batch mates. Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) is led by a cracking team & notably Chairman Matt Clifford. This partnership is a natural fit and the best backing you might wish for in tackling those big breakthroughs. Demis Hassabis needed Google to scale up, and today win a Nobel Prize. Here is another path you can take.

???? In partnership with the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA), we’re bringing 5050 to the UK! ???? The UK is a global powerhouse of invention. Penicillin, DNA’s double helix, MRIs, monoclonal antibodies, the electric motor, the telephone, and the World Wide Web were all invented or discovered by brilliant UK minds. Yet, none of those inventions were successfully commercialized in the UK. Britain invents the future – then others go build it. This pattern is primed to be broken. 5050 will inspire and equip scientists and engineers in the UK to become great founders and build the next decade of civilization-defining companies. The first cohort starts early next year. Follow the link below to be the first to know when applications open.

FIRST FLIGHT COMPLETE ?? Today, we are announcing the successful flight test of our first sub-scale demonstrator. CX-1 is Cosmic Aerospace’s first experimental aircraft. It features a 2.5 meter wingspan and was designed, built and tested in less than a month. The primary objectives of the vehicle were: Validate and verify the stability and control characteristics of the embedded wing configuration?? Achieve systems integration of the embedded wing with 10 integrated engines?? Test our autonomous flight control systems?? Build the internal capability to design, build, and test aircraft rapidly?? What’s next? We’re swiftly advancing toward larger and more powerful prototypes. The next step is CX-2, a vehicle twice the size of CX-1, with significantly higher performance and an expanded engine count. Follow us to stay in the loop! #ElectricFlight #FirstFlight #CosmicAerospace #SustainableAviation #Innovation

The early days of startups typically aren't that pretty. In 2016 Solugen did NOT win an MIT pitch competition but they won $10K. They took that money and built a prototype reactor with wood and PVC pipes bought from Home Depot. Literally held together with zip ties. That reactor made chemicals which they sold to float spas. That convinced us to write them their first check. Prototype reactor on the left. Their new Bioforge on the right.