The US academic institution is one of a growing number of universities in the country to set up funds to finance companies based on academic research.
US academic institution University of Pennsylvania has formed a $10m fund to invest in startups founded by faculty members and researchers.
The evergreen fund, called StartUP Fund, is backed entirely by the university and will provide seed-stage capital to startups across the university’s research community.
The new fund is designed to fill a funding gap for early-stage startups. Any returns that the fund makes will be reinvested into the fund, according to a release.
Applicants for funding must be companies that are based on university technology, know-how, or ideas and have at least one university-affiliated faculty member or researcher as a company founder.
The University of Pennsylvannia, a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, ranks tenth among US universities for the number of spinouts it produces, according to AUTM 2023 data.
An increasing number of US universities are setting up venture funds to invest in their own spinouts in recognition that many early-stage startups fail because of a lack of funding.
Global University Venturing research from June 2024 found that only one-third of US universities have a fund, although several academic institutions have set up investment vehicles since then.
