New UK fund set up to take research from lab to markets

A new 400,000-pound investment fund aimed at taking research from the laboratory to the commercial world has been set up by the UK's University of Wolverhampton and NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul's Caparo Group.
The fund is a joint project designed to support the exploitation of University of Wolverhampton Intellectual Property to take to the market place.
The university and Caparo have a longstanding collaboration in the form of the Caparo Innovation Centre, based at the University of Wolverhampton Science Park.
The fund will make investments in return for shares in separate university spinout companies, with representatives from the varsity and Caparo sitting alongside the academic staff responsible for the creation of the intellectual property on each board of directors.

Each company will be independent and able to apply for further research and innovation funding in its own right, which makes it easier to develop new solutions or technologies commercially, with the potential to attract greater investment from bigger companies or backers.
Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton and founder of Caparo, Lord Paulsaid, "This is another exciting project with the University linked to the Caparo Innovation Centre and it is something I am very proud of".

"This is a 400,000-pound technology investment fund, which will be a great opportunity for University researchers and will be extremely positive for the economic development of the region, through the support it will provide to new companies specialising in the science and technology sectors.

"Interestingly, the idea for this venture originally initiated during my time studying at the MIT in America and I hope it will act as an exemplar in how new innovation and technological development can help drive business development and growth; particularly at a time when there is so much uncertainty arising from the recent EU referendum decision.
"My company Caparo and the university have had a longstanding tradition of collaboration and I am delighted and proud of this partnership," he said.
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton, Professor Geoff Layer, said, "As a university we are always striving to provide innovation and to foster an entrepreneurial way of working. This new partnership with Caparo will allow us to transform some of the fantastic research that goes on in the University into commercial realities to create both an economic and societal impact.