The University of Manchester, considered one of the top rated research centres in the UK, has signed a commercialisation agreement with tech transfer development firm IP Group. Under the agreement, the IP Group will make a £5m ($7.58m) “proof of principle” funding facility available for the identification and formation of spin-outs from the Russell Group University. In exchange, the IP Group will receive equity stakes in new firms and the right to invest in later funding rounds. In addition, the IP Group will make available to Manchester spin-outs its pool of experts, networks, and business support. Manchester is one of the UK’s major research universities, rated third in the country in ‘research power’ behind Oxford and Cambridge University in a 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. As well as designing the world’s first stored-program electronic computer and aeroacoustics, the University is now also the home of the National Graphene Institute, which received $35m from the UK Governement at the end of last year for development and commercialisation of the “super-material”. The agreement will be managed by the institution’s innovation unit the University of Manchester Innovation Group (UMI3), which has attracted £225m ($341m) in venture backing to Manchester spin-outs since 2004, and has 25 Nobel Prize winners amongst its staff and students. Clive Rowland, chief executive officer of UMI3, said: “IP Group offers excellent access to public market funding and expertise in university technology transfer developed over many years, and at a significant scale, which will be very valuable to the University in continuing to expand its spin-out activities. A far horizon of proof-of-principle and connected follow-on funding is critical to the success of university propositions, as is a deep understanding of early stage technology investing which makes IP Group an ideal partner for us.” He added: “Therefore we are very pleased to see IP Group as part of the University’s enterprise community. I’m sure that this arrangement will be successful in improving the scale, quality and speed of companies spinning out from the University.”

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