University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Liverpool City Council will launch the Sciontec Liverpool fund to drive works for the city’s $2.6bn Knowledge Quarter Liverpool project.
University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University are to become partners in a fund of undisclosed size called Sciontec Liverpool established to upgrade the city’s knowledge economy assets.
The two institutions will jointly own the fund with Liverpool City Council. Sciontec will also search for a private-sector investor to join the consortium, subject to its approval by Liverpool’s municipal cabinet in coming days.
Sciontec Liverpool has been positioned as a focal point for developing science, innovation and technology properties in the city.
The fund is part of the £2bn ($2.6bn) Knowledge Quarter (KQ) Liverpool project, which includes a newly-developed expansion at Paddington Village set to provide 1.8 million square feet of space for science, technology, education and health.
KQ Liverpool contains campuses from both Liverpool and John Moores universities, as well as the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, among others.
New-build KQ facilities include Sensor City, an EU and UK government-backed university enterprise zone launched by University of Liverpool and John Moores in July 2017 as a purpose-built innovation hub for sensors and internet-of-things technologies.
KQ Liverpool also features the $88m Materials Innovation Factory, a partnership between University of Liverpool and consumer goods maker Unilever, the Bio Innovation Hub in Liverpool’s William Henry Duncan Building and a life science accelerator run by the School of Tropical Medicine and University Hospitals Trust.
Joe Anderson, mayor of Liverpool, said: “Sciontec Liverpool does exactly what it says on the tin. It brings together science, innovation and technology and will further strengthen the relationship between business and academia.
“We want the world to know that, despite all the economic uncertainty, Liverpool is open for business and looking for an investor who shares our vision to join us on this exciting journey.”
