Keele University has joined up with seven others in the Midlands to establish a new investment company to help fast-track commercialisation of research ideas and boost regional economic growth.
Midlands Mindforge has been co-founded by the university partnership Midlands Innovation, a collective of universities from across the region of which Keele is a member.
The patient capital investment company plans to raise up to £250 million from strategic corporate partners, institutional investors and qualifying individuals.
It aims to help university spinouts and early-stage companies from the region transform ground-breaking science and technology into successful businesses with “real-world impact”.
Professor Trevor McMillan, Vice-Chancellor of Keele University and Chair of the Midlands Innovation Board, said: “We have one of the largest research communities in the UK with more than 14,500 academics who have a strong track record collaborating on innovative research ideas that turn spinouts into successful businesses.
“This new company creates an ecosystem to better support our research entrepreneurs and encourage innovation.
“By cultivating an environment where postgraduate students and researchers with commercial ideas can benefit from early access to investment, we can create opportunities for our people, place and partnership to flourish.
“Midlands Mindforge will allow our universities to scale-up their research and enterprise activity.
“It is a catalyst for building ground-breaking businesses that help to boost economic growth, create highly-skilled jobs and support the UK’s bid to be a global science and technology superpower.”
The other co-founders are Aston University, University of Birmingham, Cranfield University, University of Leicester, Loughborough University, University of Nottingham and University of Warwick.
Collectively, the founders have the most postgraduate students, the highest levels of annual income, more research disclosures and patents generated per unit of research spend in the last three years, in comparison to any other UK university grouping.
Minister of State for Science, Research & Innovation George Freeman MP said the need to commercialise UK science and technology has “never been more urgent”.
The venture will focus on areas such as clean technology, AI and computational science, life sciences and healthtech.
Sir John Peace, Chairman of the Midlands Engine partnership, said: “The Midlands has always been associated with exceptional invention and creativity, but has long experienced significant underinvestment and consequently productivity levels have lagged behind the rest of the UK.
“This bold and ambitious initiative led by the Midlands Innovation universities has the potential to help close the investment gap, supporting our region to reach its true potential for sustainable economic growth.”
