Scaleup programmes
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IP Group 2021
Finance and Risk Capital
Impact for scaleups
77
UK companies backed
37%
Follow-on investments
86%
Investments outside of London
49
Growth-stage investments
Key sectors
Now 20 years old, IP Group is an FTSE-250 listed IP commercialisation company which has developed more than 300 companies. With a focus on life sciences, deeptech and cleantech, it invests in university spin-outs at seed, venture and growth stages and assists them with the commercialisation of their new products and services, with technology transfer, IP licensing and protection. It continues to invest in portfolio companies as they scale. Companies in its portfolio have raised £1bn in the first half of IP Group’s current financial year.
The firm has a long-term partnership model with UK universities and developed an approach to supporting businesses from “cradle to maturity,” including assistance with executive search and recruitment and raising growth stage capital from co-investors. It currently has partnerships with 17 UK universities, six US universities and nine universities in Australia and New Zealand.
The company owns Parkwalk Advisors, an active EIS investor in university spin-outs of ‘hard science’ companies, and has stakes in Oxford Sciences Innovation and Cambridge Innovation Capital.
Cumulatively, in the period between January 2014 to June 2021, IP Group (including the Parkwalk funds) has supported 77 UK-based companies in 122 fundraising rounds amounting to £1.16bn. The average turnover of these companies was £7.54m and the estimated average number of employees was 38.
Notable UK scaleups in its portfolio include the unicorns Oxford Nanopore and Hinge Health, as well as autonomous vehicle software company Oxbotica and life sciences companies Centessa Pharmaceuticals and Istesso.
