Our history

Ploughshare has 15 years of experience in putting government intellectual property into the hands of users

Ploughshare was established to take on the increasing commercialisation activities being conducted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). In 2005 Dstl recognised that a wholly-owned, but separate company, would be better suited to engage with industry to negotiate license deals and create spin-out companies – and so Ploughshare was born.

We set out with the aim of unlocking the potential of Dstl-owned discoveries to deliver additional impact from Dstl’s research in Science & Technology (S&T). In 2017 an even larger pool of innovations became available to us following an agreement with the Ministry of Defence (MOD). This extended our access to innovations from all MOD departments, including the Front-Line Commands, Strategic Command, and the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

We are an integral part of the UK government’s technology ecosystem, and ensure government science delivers real prosperity to the economy, our society, people’s lives, and the environment.

By connecting inventors and investors, we have helped accelerate to market products that change the day to day lives of individuals, nations and the whole world.