Fusion IP, a UK-based commercialisation company, has raised £20m for new and existing ventures, as well as signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreements with the University of Nottingham and Swansea University.
The funds were raised through the issue of 36,363,637 shares of 1p in the firm at a price of 55p a share to both new and existing shareholders. The firm plans to use the funds to continue investment in its portfolio companies, whilst simultaneously providing financing for new start-ups.
Fusion has also said that it will use the funds to support new companies utilising IP commercialised from both Swansea and Nottingham. The firm already has existing MOUs with the University of Sheffield and Cardiff University, and is actively pursuing new partnerships.
Fusion currently holds shareholdings in over 20 portfolio companies, and saw its first major exit last year when it sold drug simulation platform Simcyp, spun-out of Sheffield, to US-based Certara for $32m. The deal marked a 200 fold return on Fusion’s original investment, returning around £4m for its 20% stake.
David Baynes, chief executive of Fusion IP, said: “We are very pleased to announce this significant additional investment in the Company, in a funding round which includes all our current institutional shareholders, as well as adding a number of new institutions. Combined with our new university agreements, this is clearly a significant advance for Fusion IP.
“Nottingham is one of the UK’s top 10 research-intensive universities, with centres of excellence in aerospace, advanced manufacturing, energy and biomedical imaging. We are also delighted to be expanding our operation in Wales, with the addition of Swansea University into the portfolio.
“We remain fully committed to the commercialisation of IP that is generated out of the UK’s leading universities and believe we are now well placed to further increase our pipeline of companies and to maximize the potential returns from our increasingly mature portfolio.”