SISO’s engagement with OpenBioSim exemplifies our approach to nurturing transformative social enterprises within the academic ecosystem. Through deep collaborative dialogue with the OpenBioSim team and Edinburgh Innovations, we facilitated a crucial exploration of how social enterprise models could reconcile their dual aspirations for commercial viability and social impact.
Our support began with a thorough analysis of the structural barriers inhibiting their innovative vision. Through iterative consultation, we helped illustrate how a Community Interest Company (CIC) structure could effectively address their complex challenges while maintaining their commitment to open science and sustainable development.
This strategic guidance culminated in practical support for organisational formation, including the preparation of articles of association and company documentation, leading to OpenBioSim’s successful establishment as a CIC on 3rd May 2022. This foundational work exemplifies SISO’s role in bridging academic innovation with social enterprise development, creating frameworks that enable sustainable impact while preserving scientific integrity.
Overview of Organisation
OpenBioSim, born from research at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry, develops sophisticated chemical simulation software that transforms drug discovery and development.
Their core software, BioSimSpace, integrates various research tools into a single platform that models how molecules interact – essential knowledge for pharmaceutical development.
Their innovation lies not just in their technology, but in their approach to sharing it. While traditional commercial models often restrict access to such vital resources, OpenBioSim makes their software freely available to researchers worldwide.
As a CIC, they generate sustainable revenue by helping pharmaceutical companies and commercial software vendors integrate and optimise these tools for industrial use. This model elegantly resolves the tension between open scientific collaboration and commercial sustainability.
The Problem
OpenBioSim confronted several interconnected challenges in translating academic research into commercial impact.
The fundamental issue stemmed from the misalignment between research funding mechanisms and software sustainability needs. While securing funding for new feature development aligned well with traditional research grants, maintaining existing software infrastructure fell through the cracks of conventional funding models.
This created a paradox where vital research tools, despite active use and demand, risked becoming abandonware once initial development funding ended.
The university framework proved particularly challenging. Despite active interest from companies wanting to fund maintenance and development, bureaucratic complexities created challenging barriers.
The team faced three core challenges:
Research Accessibility
Traditional commercialisation paths prioritise proprietary technology, limiting scientific collaboration. Open-source software, while valuable for research, is not a widely established business models in the pharmaceutical industry.
Technical Sustainability
Research software requires ongoing development and maintenance. Standard funding mechanisms rarely support long-term software maintenance, creating gaps between academic development and industrial application.
Commercial Viability
The team needed to generate sustainable revenue while adhering to open source ethos – objectives often viewed as incompatible in traditional commercialisation frameworks.
The Solution
After careful consideration, OpenBioSim pioneered an innovative approach through the CIC model. This structure offered distinct advantages over traditional charitable or foundation structures, providing good balance between operational flexibility and social purpose. The organisation implemented a robust governance structure where members, rather than trustees, guide the organisation’s direction, each bearing only a £1 limited liability.
Key elements of the solution included:
Social Enterprise Structure
The CIC model incorporated several innovative elements designed to protect its social mission while enabling sustainable operations. An asset lock ensures all profits benefit the community, while an explicit requirement mandates that all work undertaken directly remains open source.
Operational Innovation
The model enabled various employment arrangements, including remote work, part-time positions, and hybrid arrangements blending university and CIC employment. This flexibility proved particularly valuable in creating career progression opportunities for key technical staff while maintaining connections with academic institutions.
Sustainable Revenue Model
Moving beyond traditional software licensing, OpenBioSim created sustainable income through direct contracting with companies for maintenance and support.
The Outcome
OpenBioSim’s innovative approach has yielded remarkable results, evidenced by impressive metrics from their main software repository: over 28,000 downloads, 300 closed issues, 450 pull requests, 176 stars, 35 forks, as well as 800 unique access to cloud-hosted training resources. These numbers reflect not just usage but active engagement from the community, also evidenced by their growing number of followers on social media platforms such as LinkedIn.
Industry Impact:
- Partnerships with the companies Recursion and Cresset demonstrate commercial value
- Integration with pharmaceutical research platforms shows practical application, evidenced by multiple presentations of business partners at scientific conferences and corporate meetings.
- Sustained development of open-source tools advances scientific capability evidenced by multiple scientific publications from academic and industrial scientists demonstrating use of OpenBioSim software in research
- Sustained development of open-source tools accelerates development of innovative products and services, as evidence by usage of OpenBioSim software by several startups and software vendors.
Social Mission Achievement
The model has created new opportunities for Research Software Engineers, offering enhanced career progression and competitive compensation unconstrained by traditional university pay scales. Through flexible employment arrangements, including freelancing and time-sharing options, OpenBioSim has opened new pathways for technical talent to engage with research software development.
Broader Implications
OpenBioSim’s experience offers valuable insights for academic social enterprise development:
Model Innovation
Their success challenges assumptions about commercialising academic research. It shows how social enterprise structures can resolve tensions between public good and commercial sustainability.
Ecosystem Development
OpenBioSim demonstrates the importance of specialised support in navigating academic commercialisation. It highlights how targeted expertise can help researchers maintain academic integrity while building viable enterprises.
Future Pathways
This approach opens new possibilities for research commercialisation across disciplines. It provides a template for academics seeking to create social impact through sustainable enterprise.
Testimonial
“SISO’s expertise in social enterprises was invaluable during the early stages of OpenBioSim’s journey. Their input helped us refine our innovative business model and plan operations ahead of launch, ensuring we maximized the social benefits of offering our software platform free of charge.” Julien Michel, Professor of Biomolecular Simulation, University of Edinburgh, founder and Director of OpenBioSim CIC.
Transform Your Research into Social Impact
SISO connects academic innovation with social enterprise development. Through our comprehensive support system, you gain access to Scotland’s leading social enterprise network, specialist commercialisation expertise, targeted funding pathways, and a community of academic entrepreneurs who have successfully translated their research into sustainable social impact.
Your research holds the potential to address pressing societal challenges. Contact us today through the form below to explore how we can support your transition from academic excellence to social enterprise innovation.
