UK-based commercialisation firm Frontier IP’s portfolio value registered a 49% rise year-on-year to hit £8m ($11.3m) by the end of December 2017.
Frontier’s latest half-year update showed the company had increased its pre-tax profit by 67% year-on-year to $741,000, a result the firm attributed to its appreciating investments.
Frontier portfolio companies include Heriot-Watt University foodtech spinout Nandi Proteins, which raised $1.3m in July 2017, and Dundee pharmaceutical spinout Exscientia, which secured its first strategic investment of $17.7m in September 2017 from drug discovery company Evotec.
In both cases, Frontier took a stake in partnerships providing access to the universities’ early-stage intellectual property (IP) pipeline. Frontier holds similar deals with institutions such as University of Cambridge and University of Plymouth.
Neil Crabb, chief executive of Frontier IP Group, said: “These encouraging results and, in particular, the near 50% growth in the value our portfolio value year-on-year increasingly demonstrate the strength of our business model.
“By involving industry in our spinout companies at an early stage of the commercialisation process, we are able to ensure the technology developed meets real needs. This approach is now clearly delivering value for all our stakeholders.”