Deal paves way for more university spin-outs

A DEAL between South Yorkshire’s Fusion IP and Finance Wales is paving the way for more high-tech university spin-outs.

Co-investment from Finance Wales and the university commercialisation company Fusion IP – thanks to a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two companies – will result in spin-outs from  Swansea University and  Cardiff University.

Following on from the successful MOU signed between the two companies in 2007, the new MOU details a co-investment strategy for investing in opportunities arising from Sheffield-based Fusion’s IP pipeline agreements with its Welsh universities. Fusion signed an agreement with Cardiff University in 2007 and in April 2013 it signed an agreement with Swansea University.

Steve Smith, Finance Wales’ director of technology venture investments, said: “Fusion IP is spearheading the commercialisation of some excellent IP from Cardiff and Swansea universities. 

“Finance Wales has already co-invested in a number of Welsh spin-outs thanks to the MoU we signed in 2007 and we’re pleased that even more Welsh spin-outs could benefit from our new agreement.”

Finance Wales has invested £6m in six Cardiff-based Fusion spin-outs, including Asalus, Diurnal and MedaPhor alongside Fusion IP and other investors under the 2007 MoU.

Fusion IP’s CEO, David Baynes, said: “We’re ambitious to create successful businesses from the world-class IP created at the universities we work with.  Both Cardiff and Swansea University have a number of excellent research departments with an interesting pipeline of potential commercialisation opportunities.”