IP Group increases backing for graphene

THE IP Group has extended its commercialisation deal with the University of Manchester to cover proof-of-principle funding for graphene projects.

Last year it agreed a five-year deal with UMI3, the university body which helps spin-outs, that would see it invest £5m in new businesses in return for an equity stake.

IP said it would put in an extra £2.5m and the agreement will now last until 2019.

Graphene, which was discovered at the university, is the thinnest material known and yet also one of the strongest. It conducts electricity as efficiently as copper and outperforms all other materials as a conductor of heat.

IP chief executive Alan Aubrey said: “The University is world famous for being the home of the isolation of graphene and we are delighted to have reached agreement with UMI3 around funding graphene projects. IP Group’s first graphene company, Applied Graphene Materials, floated on AIM in November and we look forward to making more investments in this exciting area.”

Clive Rowland, UMI3’s chief executive, said: “The university has been developing a number of intellectual property projects which have now reached the stage where proof-of-principle investment is necessary to take them to the next phase and to bring on another set of inventions coming through our system.

“The university’s very active engagement with industrial companies is informing our understanding of which graphene areas are most relevant to develop and the possibilities for setting up intellectual property joint ventures with companies already in the market place means that our projects will be well placed for market adoption.

“We have been working with IP Group since last year and feel that its expertise, resources and investment capital adds significant and complementary value to our own well regarded innovation system and networks. A partnership of this nature achieves a critical mass necessary to succeed in an emerging technology field like graphene.”