The commercialisation partnership has launched a $2.2m seed fund for its spinouts ahead of a larger vehicle that will target $125m to bolster the regional ecosystem.
Northern Accelerator, the regional commercialisation alliance between the universities of Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland, has raised a £1.7m ($2.2m) seed fund to invest in its spinouts.
Venture capital firm Northstar Ventures will manage the fund with the aim of widening the supply of early-stage capital for businesses formed by its member universities.
The news comes as Northern Accelerator aims to seed a $125m vehicle, also to be managed by Northstar and named Northern Universities Investment Fund, that will look to entrench long-term benefits for the regional ecosystem.
Formed in 2016, Northern Accelerator has been equipped with $6.9m from the UK government’s $125m Connecting Capability Fund as well as funding of undisclosed size from the EU-owned European Regional Development Fund.
It claims to have bolstered the number of spinouts formed by each member institution during the 2018-19 academic year to 10 from an average of 2 over preceding years.
Roy Sandbach, chair of Northern Accelerator’s Strategic Advisory Board, said: “By translating world-leading and world-changing North East research into commercial opportunities, our universities not only ensure they make a real-world impact, but also boost the region’s knowledge economy, creating companies that deliver more and better jobs and kickstarting a much-needed increase in regional private-sector research and development.”
