Universities team-up for innovation fund
Aberystwyth University and Bangor University are to launch an ambitious programme to develop an innovation fund to support small businesses in mid and north Wales. For many years, both universities have worked with businesses in their region to share knowledge and expertise. Many spin out companies have been formed as a result of the practical application of research undertaken at Aberystwyth and Bangor. Now, the two institutions are looking to take things to the next level by providing access to venture capital funding to ambitious local businesses, who will benefit from appropriate investment. The fund will be operated independently of the Universities and will allow for the commercialisation of research, developed within the institutions and also from outside the universities, in the mid and north Wales region. The venture capital fund of some £2m initially, will be financed from a variety of sources including private equity, and provides an emphatic underlining of the key relations...