Fusion funds university spin outs

Fusion IP, the university IP commercialisation company that turns research into business, has successfully raised £3.2m to continue investing in its university spin-out companies.

The fundraising is subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting in December. The company has also entered into a co-investment agreement with the IP Group that will combine the knowledge and resources of IP Group and Fusion to evaluate and assist new companies.

Fusion IP has a 10-year agreement with Sheffield University, under which it has exclusive rights to commercialise all of the university´s intellectual property through licensing or the creation of spin-out companies in fields as varied as alternative energy, drug discovery and engineering.

Fusion currently has a portfolio of 20 active spin-out investments, including companies such as Simcyp, which has reported its fifth consecutive year of revenue and profit growth with revenues up by 24 per cent to £3.9m and profits up by 26 per cent to £1.2m this year alone.