Scaleup programmes
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IP Group
Finance and Risk Capital
Impact for scaleups
62
UK companies backed
44%
Follow-on investments
71%
Investments outside of London
43
Growth-stage investments
Key sectors
Founded in 2001, IP Group is a FTSE 250-listed intellectual property commercialisation company that has supported the development of over 500 businesses. Specialising in life sciences, deeptech and cleantech, it invests in university spin-outs at seed, venture, and growth stages, supporting commercialisation through technology transfer, IP licensing and protection. The Group continues to back its portfolio as companies scale and, through its subsidiary Parkwalk Advisors—the UK’s largest growth-stage EIS fund manager—has invested in over 150 university spin-outs nationwide.
Between 2018 and June 2025, the fund participated in 110 fundraisings for 62 UK-based companies. Their average turnover was £3.04m with an average of 53 employees.
Scaleups within IP Group’s portfolio include AccelerComm, a firm that develops semiconductor technology, and Mixergy, a firm that designs and manufactures hot water tanks.
Describing itself as “one of the most active investors in university and other research-based companies in the world,” IP Group has long-term partnerships with 17 UK universities—including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and UCL—as well as six in the US and nine in Australia and New Zealand. These relationships underpin its strategy of supporting science and technology-based businesses from inception to maturity, offering expertise in IP, recruitment, and growth funding.
Parkwalk works closely with technology transfer offices and early-stage founders to identify and fund promising innovations at the seed stage, while IP Group provides follow-on capital and scaling support. The Group has also held stakes in Oxford Science Enterprises and Cambridge Innovation Capital, strengthening its access to major UK innovation hubs.
IP Group demonstrated strong exit momentum in the first half of 2025, delivering £30.3m} in cash proceeds from exits, a ninefold increase year-on-year, and maintaining confidence in its target of over £250m in realisations by the end of 2027. Despite a narrowed half-year loss, the firm highlighted significant portfolio activity, including the successful US listing of a major holding, Hinge Health, and the acquisition of portfolio company Monolith by CoreWeave. Additionally, IP Group noted the stabilisation and subsequent improvement of its Net Asset Value (NAV) per share to approximately 100p by mid-September, partly due to public company gains like Oxford Nanopore Technologies, while continuing a strong share buyback programme.
