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A new investment fund has been launched covering early stage science and deeptech spinouts of the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool.

The Northern Universities Venture Fund has been opened up by North of England venture specialist Northern Gritstone in partnership with EIS fund manager Parkwalk Advisors. It will focus on opportunities that are "intellectual property-rich" and will target high net worth people.

The fund will be managed by Parkwalk, a subsidiary of IP Group, and which is claimed to be the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's most active university spinout investor and has more than £500m of assets under management, including sectors such as AI, quantum computing and semiconductors. Northern Gritstone's involvement means investors will get preferred access to spinout opportunities through its multi-year agreements with the four northern universities.

Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: “I am convinced that the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s first trillion-dollar business will emerge from investing into º£½ÇÊÓƵ university science and technology. The launch of Parkwalk’s Northern Universities Venture Fund is a way to bring untapped innovation from the North of England to a broader investor base."

Moray Wright, CEO of Parkwalk Advisors, said: "This collaboration brings together two of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s leading forces in university commercialisation. Parkwalk’s expertise in venture capital and deep tech, combined with Northern Gritstone’s unrivalled university partnerships, means we can offer investors access to an exceptional and underexploited pipeline of innovation."

Northern Gritstone recently announced further fundraising of £50m from investors including Aviva and Fulcrum Asset Management, bringing its total capital commitment to £362m. Since May 2022, the company has made 37 investments into a range of cutting edge businesses within semiconductor design, manufacturing, novel materials, AI, secure computing, healthtech and gene therapies.

Lord Jim O’Neill, chair of Northern Gritstone, said: "The North’s universities are home to some of the most exciting science and technology coming out of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ. This collaboration with Parkwalk is an opportunity for investors to support what are potentially the next generation of global companies and to support regional growth to the benefit of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ."