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A £250 million investment vehicle has been established by eight Midlands universities to accelerate and enhance university spin-out companies in the region.

The group has created the new venture with the aim of boosting the commercialisation of spinouts and early-stage businesses rich in intellectual property.

Called Midlands Mindforge, it has been co-founded by Aston University in Birmingham, University of Birmingham, Cranfield University in Bedford, Keele University in north Staffordshire, University of Leicester, Loughborough University, University of Nottingham and University of Warwick.

These eight institutions are also a collective known as Midlands Innovation which was founded as a collaboration to drive research, innovation and skills development.

Their plan is now to raise up to £250 million from corporate partners, institutional investors and individuals to transform science and technology into successful businesses with real-world impact.

Midlands Mindforge said it wanted to address what it called "the significant funding deficit" for early-stage tech businesses in the region, particularly in fields such as clean technology, artificial intelligence, computational science, life sciences and health tech.

Trevor McMillan, chairman of Midlands Innovation and vice-chancellor of Keele University, said: "We have one of the largest research communities in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ with more than 14,500 academics who have a strong track record collaborating on innovative research ideas that turn spinouts into successful businesses.