The University of Nottingham has signed an agreement with Fusion IP plc, which will allow the company to invest in the University’s emergent spin-out companies.
Fusion IP specialises in commercialising intellectual property arising from university research. The company has just announced that it has raised funding of £20 million through a share issue to new and existing institutional shareholders.
Investing in the University's spin-out businesses
Fusion will receive equity stakes in any spin-out companies it invests in on pre-agreed terms. It will provide business building expertise and mentoring to emergent companies, as well as access to its other co-investment networks.
Fusion will also draw on the funds to invest in new spin-out companies from their existing partner universities.
The University of Nottingham has formed more than 40 spin-out companies and currently has a portfolio of 28 companies, 16 of which have products or services in the market place and which between them have raised over £50 million in external investment in recent years.
A long history of innovation
This new agreement will be complementary to the University’s Nottingham Angels network (which has co-investment rights under the agreement) and the £37 million Nottingham Investment Fund which will launch in April of this year.
The University of Nottingham has a long history of innovation, going back to the invention of MRI in the 1980s by Sir Peter Mansfield, which underpinned the creation of the MRI industry.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Knowledge Exchange, Professor Chris Rudd said: “I am delighted to have entered into this agreement with Fusion IP plc. The University has a pipeline of innovative technologies and this relationship will be important to helping to realise their full economic impact.”
A source of high quality investment opportunities
Dr Susan Huxtable, Director of Intellectual Property Commercialisation at The University of Nottingham added: ‘‘Fusion’s successful fundraising is evidence of the support and confidence the sector has in the potential of university technologies to help grow the economy. The access to both management expertise and funding that Fusion brings is critically important for supporting emergent spin-out companies.”
David Baynes, CEO of Fusion IP plc said: “As a top 10 Russell Group university, Nottingham will provide a source of high quality investment opportunities. We look forward to working with the Nottingham technology transfer team and making our first investments.”
For more details about The University of Nottingham’s technology commercialisation services, visit www.nottingham.ac.uk/servicesforbusiness
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More information is available from Nick King, Marketing Projects Manager, Business Engagement and Innovation Services, University of Nottingham, on +44 (0)115 823 2184, nicholas.king@nottingham.ac.uk
Photo shows: Professor Ed Lester, Technical Director of the nanoparticle manufacturer, Promethean Particles, one of the University's spin-out companies.
Notes to editors:
The University of Nottingham’s spin-out companies
Nottingham has a vibrant portfolio of 28 spin-out companies. The portfolio includes Oncimmune Ltd, which has launched a blood test for early diagnosis of cancer, Monica Healthcare Ltd which has produced a highly sensitive remote device for maternal and foetal monitoring and Promethean Particles Ltd which produces nanoparticles of controlled size and morphology for a range of industry partners.
About The University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It was ‘one of the first to embrace a truly international approach to higher education’, according to the Sunday Times University Guide 2013. It is also one of the most popular universities among graduate employers, one of the world’s greenest universities, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the UK’s Top 10 and the World’s Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong and the QS World Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its research into global food security.
Fusion IP plc
Fusion IP plc was established in 2002 to commercialise university-generated intellectual property. The company has long-term agreements with leading research-intensive universities. These agreements enable Fusion to identify world class IP and turn it into a commercial opportunity, either through the creation of a start-up company or a license.
Fusion currently owns shareholdings in over 20 portfolio companies, including significant shareholdings in Seren, Magnomatics, Phase Focus, MedaPhor, Asalus and Diurnal.
In 2012, Fusion announced its first major exit, when it sold its portfolio company, Simcyp, a research-based business providing a modelling and simulation platform for predicting drug reactions to US based Certara LP for $32 million.
For more information, visit www.fusionip.co.uk