The fund is raising an initial £150m to finance deep tech startups from eight universities in the UK Midlands.
The UK Midlands region has strong university research in deep tech and life sciences. But it is underfunded compared with university spinouts from the so-called Golden Triangle – the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London.
While 100 spinouts from the Golden Triangle got funding in 2022, just 8 spinouts from the Midlands received funding that year.
Midlands Mindforge is seeking to change that. The fund was set up last year to accelerate the commercialisation of spinouts from eight of its partner universities – Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Keele, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick.
The fund’s backers are seeking to raise an initial £150m ($189m). Corporate investors are welcome as partners.
