Funding the Future: New Investment Fund to Help Drive Innovation

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Many of the spinout companies receive support and advice from the University's commercialisation team and from the Bristol SETsquared Centre - the University's award-winning business incubator, part of the wider SETsquared network which was named the best in the world recently. Companies supported by Bristol SETsquared have raised over £188 million since 2007.

Professor Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Bristol, said: "This fund will catalyse the University’s creation of – and SETsquared’s support for - exciting, technology-based companies by enabling individuals to invest alongside institutional investors, helping nascent entrepreneurs realise early steps towards a successful company."

Bristol has a growing reputation as a place where new technologies emerge, companies are born and products that transform society are developed; with both SETsquared and the University making significant contributions to this ecosystem.

The Bristol and Bath region has been recognised as a fast-growing, globally-significant high-tech, creative and digital media cluster and is home to companies such as Aardman Animation, IMDB and Hewlett Packard.

A recent report from Tech City UK described the cluster as 'a hotbed for future technologies' and ranked it second in the UK for digital employment, behind London, with 61,653 people employed in the industry.

The University of Bristol Enterprise Fund will be managed by London-based investment firm Parkwalk Advisors, which manages a series of specialist funds investing in the UK early-stage technology sector, including similar funds at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Neil Cameron, a University of Bristol alumnus and a Partner at Parkwalk Advisors, said: "We are delighted to launch this fund in conjunction with the University of Bristol. I believe we will see some extremely innovative companies grow with the fund’s assistance."

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