MTI joins forces with University of Manchester
Article Date: Nov 01 2007Technology-focused venture capitalist MTI has formed a partnership with Manchester University to invest in spin-outs from the university’s research. Investments will be made through MTI’s UMIP Premier Fund, which has raised £50 million.
MTI’s chief executive Ernie Richardson tells GrowthBusiness: ‘Up until a few years ago, university spin-outs tended to have a slightly amateur feel. Universities started up some wonderful businesses but they and their seed investors were diluted out before real value was gained.
‘The objective of our fund is to have sufficient resources to be able to follow deals through seed-stage, late seed-stage and Series A, B and C rounds. It’s not to do all the funding needed, but to make sure that there is somewhere spin-outs can go to find funding – and to keep the dialogue with incoming investors honest.’
Richardson says that the success of investors such as LSE-listed IP Group, which specialises in commercialising research from universities, and Scottish VC Braveheart, which raised £25 million to invest in spin-outs from Edinburgh University, exemplifies a growing trend towards professionalism in the funding and management of university spin-outs.
He adds: ‘Manchester is an exciting place. The merged university has created an extraordinary powerhouse of technology and innovation and has put £600 million into new buildings and research facilities.’