Academic roll

Intellectual property commercialisation company IP2IPO has added Bristol University to its growing roster of academic partners.

Under a 25-year deal, the company will identify and help set up spin-out businesses across the university and invest an initial £5m in return for an equity stake in them.

According to IP2IPO, Bristol is one the UK’s leading research universities, with 10 of its engineering, science and medicine departments receiving the highest possible rating in recent national ‘league tables’. The group said it has already identified a ‘pipeline of very promising opportunities’ within the university.

Vice-chancellor Prof Eric Thomas claimed the partnership would help ‘maximise the impact of the knowledge generated by Bristol academics.’

Bristol is the latest institution to sign an exclusive partnership deal with IP2IPO. Founded in 2001, the commercialisation specialist formed its inaugural partnership with Oxford University’s Chemistry Department. In 2003, its relationship with Oxford was expanded to cover seed capital funding of £5m for spin-out companies across the entire university.