University signs partnership agreement to market its ideas commercially

Press release issued: 5 December 2005

Academic staff with an interest in turning discoveries into commercial enterprises will have now access to additional expertise and investment thanks to a partnership between the University and an intellectual property commercialisation company.

Academic staff with an interest in turning discoveries into commercial enterprises will have now access to additional expertise and investment thanks to a long-term partnership between the University of Bristol and IP2IPO, a publicly quoted intellectual property commercialisation company.

Bristol University researchers have already created more than 20 spinout companies, and the institution has supported many other enterprises through its SETsquared Partnership with the universities of Bath, Southampton and Surrey.

Now, through a 25-year agreement with IP2IPO, academics with marketable ideas will be able to seek ‘seed corn’ and early-stage finance from an initial investment fund of £5 million.

They will also benefit from the presence of IP2IPO staff working alongside the University’s own enterprise specialists, as well as from the company’s intimate knowledge of market requirements and its well-established links with investors.

In return, IP2IPO will receive equity stakes in university spinout companies. The share that academics traditionally retain when a company is established to commercialise their research will be unaffected.

The University of Bristol is one of the leading research universities in the UK. In the most recent national Research Assessment Exercise, 15 departments – 10 of them in science, engineering and medicine – received the top ‘5*’ rating given to world-class departments that are setting the global research agenda in their fields. A further 21 departments – eight in science, engineering and medicine – received a ‘5’ rating, signifying international excellence.

Professor Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, said: “We have a fine track record in putting our research to work for the common good. Our partnership with IP2IPO is a way of building on our success in the field of enterprise and maximising the impact of the knowledge generated by Bristol academics.”

David Norwood, Chief Executive of IP2IPO, said: “We are very pleased to be entering into this partnership with the University of Bristol and look forward to working with them to generate value from what we consider to be an exceptionally strong scientific research base.

“We have already identified a pipeline of very promising opportunities and are confident that the partnership will lead to the creation of an exciting portfolio of high-growth spin-out companies.”