UCL launches £50 million technology investment fund
UCL (University College London) is today launching the UCL Technology Fund to
invest £50 million in commercialising its world-leading research emerging over
the next five years.
The Fund will be used to support academics whose research has commercial
potential, with funding for early stage proof of concept, licensing projects and
new spinout companies.
This is the first investment fund that UCL has launched to commercialise its
multidisciplinary research and it will support innovations from academics in all
areas of the university, including life sciences, engineering and information
communication technology.
The Fund will provide both financing and support to take projects through the
whole development journey from proof of concept to commercialisation. It will
build on the success of UCL’s technology transfer company UCL Business
(UCLB) in commercialising research from the university, by increasing the
number of projects that can be supported and improving the financial return
to the university.
UCL is ranked number one for its research strength in the UK’s recent Research
Excellence Framework and has a long track record of developing thriving
businesses through UCLB.
UCLB has launched over 60 spin-out companies to commercialise intellectual
property developed by UCL researchers. Recent UCLB spinouts include
Freeline, which is developing gene therapies for blood disorders and Autolus,
which is developing cancer immunotherapy treatment.
Another spin-out, Senceive, provides wireless monitoring solutions to the
construction and railway industries while Mediagamma is an innovative
advertising technology company.
UCL has secured funding from the European Investment Fund (EIF), one of the
largest providers of venture investment in Europe, and from Imperial
Innovations (‘Innovations’), a leading UK public technology commercialisation
company.
EIF and Imperial Innovations have each committed £24.75 million to the Fund,
which will have an initial investment period of five years. EIF’s contribution to
the UCL Technology Fund is supported by the Investment Plan for Europe.
The Fund will be managed by Albion Ventures, one of the UK’s largest
independent venture capital investors. Albion is also contributing to the Fund.
Albion will draw on the experience of UCLB to ensure the Fund meets financial
targets as well as objectives set by UCL for broader society and economic
impact.
Dr Celia Caulcott, Vice-Provost (Enterprise) at UCL, said:
“UCL has an impressive track record of commercialising our research through
licensing and spin-outs and the launch of the UCL Technology Fund underlines
our long-term approach towards investment. Together with our partners, we
will ensure UCL continues to maximise the commercial opportunities of its
innovative and ground-breaking research, with the aim of benefitting society
as a whole and producing economic impact. The Fund exemplifies UCL’s Grand
Challenges strategy which brings expertise from across UCL and beyond to
solve key global problems.”
Russ Cummings, Chief Executive Officer at Imperial Innovations, said:
“The quality of research at UCL means that there is already a wealth of
opportunities to be exploited and this will provide even greater level of
resources to UCLB to increase throughput. We expect our participation in this
new fund will lead to a significant increase in our rate of investment in UCL
related spinouts to which we will have access via our role in this new fund.”
Pier-Luigi Gilibert, Chief Executive at the European Investment Fund, said:
“The UCL Technology Fund is the first fund backed by the EIF that focuses on
proof of concept funding, licensing agreements and companies spun-out from
across all academic disciplines from UCL. Good science is essential for
successful technology transfer and UCL is a leading source of scientific
research. We are pleased to join forces with Imperial Innovations to be part of
this exciting new initiative.”
About UCL (University College London)
UCL was founded in 1826. We were the first English university established after Oxford and
Cambridge, the first to open up university education to those previously excluded from it,
and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. We are
among the world's top universities, as reflected by performance in a range of international
rankings and tables. UCL currently has over 35,000 students from 150 countries and over
11,000 staff. Our annual income is more than £1 billion. www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on
Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV
UCL Business PLC
UCL Business PLC (UCLB) is a leading technology transfer company that supports and
commercialises research and innovations arising from UCL, one of the UK’s top research-led
universities. UCLB has a successful track record and a strong reputation for identifying and
protecting promising new technologies and innovations from UCL academics. UCLB has a
strong track record in commercialising medical technologies and provides technology
transfer services to UCL’s associated hospitals; University College London Hospitals,
Moorfields Eye Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal Free
London Hospital. It invests directly in development projects to maximise the potential of the
research and manages the commercialisation process of technologies from laboratory to
market. For further information, please visit: www.uclb.com
About Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk
Imperial Innovations Group plc (“Innovations”) creates, builds and invests in pioneering
technology companies and licensing opportunities developed from outstanding scientific
research from the 'Golden Triangle', the geographical region broadly bounded by London,
Cambridge and Oxford. This area has an unrivalled cluster of outstanding academic research
and technology businesses, and is home to four of the world’s top 10 universities, as well as
leading research institutions, the cream of the UK’s science and technology businesses and
many of its leading investors.
Innovations supports scientists and entrepreneurs in the commercialisation of their ideas,
through the licensing of intellectual property, by leading the formation of new companies, by
recruiting high-calibre management teams and by providing investment and encouraging coinvestment. Innovations remains an active investor over the life of its portfolio companies,
with the majority of Innovations’ investment going into businesses in which it is already a
shareholder.
Since becoming a public company in 2006, Innovations has raised more than £346.0 million
of equity from investors, which has enabled it to invest in some of the most exciting spin-outs
to come out of UK academic research. In addition, the Group has agreed £80.0 million in loan
facilities from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Between Innovations’ admission to AIM (August 2006) and 31 July 2015, Innovations has
invested a total of £236.8
About European Investment Fund
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank group. Its
central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by
helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital,
guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In
this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development,
entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. EIF’s total net commitments to private equity
funds amounted to over EUR 8.8 billion at the end of 2014. With investments in over 500
funds, EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the scope of its
investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage segments. EIF’s guarantees loan portfolio
totalled over EUR 5.6 billion in over 350 operations at end 2014, positioning it as a major
European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor. About the Investment
Plan for Europe
About Albion Ventures
Albion Ventures is one of the larger venture capital investors in the UK with funds of around
£350 million. The business was founded 20 years ago and has over 30 staff. One of its core
areas of investment expertise is healthcare, with concentration on medical technology and
life sciences. Albion has had a relationship with UCL since 2001.
Media contact for UCL:
Margaret-Anne Orgill
Media Relations Manager
UCL Enterprise
m.orgill@ucl.ac.uk
+44 (0)7572 602345
Photos of Dr Celia Caulcott, Vice-Provost (Enterprise) at UCL are available.
Contact for EIF:
Piyush Unalkat
Head of Technology Transfer Investments
p.unalkat@eif.org
+352 621 339 178