Digital academic "matchmaking" company IN-PART has been acquired by Lyon-based Inova.
The move has been described as a "major step forward for academia-industry partnering" and will bring IN-PART's technology to Inova customers.
Sheffield-based IN-PART - which employs about 45 people - specialises in connecting universities and research institutions with businesses, in the interests of commercialising new ideas.
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Its Connect platform is used by more than 250 academic institutions and more than 6,000 companies - and IN-PART boasts of having facilitated international linkages between the two.
Inova works with many of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, offering digital tools that facilitate collaboration between biopharma companies. It runs offices in Lyon, New York, Denver, and Tokyo.
Gilles Toulemonde, founder and CEO of Inova, said: “The Inova team is growing with talents and resources that are taking life science partnering to the next level.
"There is a growing consensus in the biopharma partnering world that academia is the next game-changer. However, our customers often report how difficult it is to navigate the extensive science produced by university groups.
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"IN-PART has built an impressive digital solution to tackle this exact challenge and by acquiring them, we are now bringing our mission full-circle and including academia in the next-gen partnering world. Together, we’re helping untapped science reach the market through smart partnering.
“In Inova, we’ve found a great strategic fit across our technology base and close alignment in terms of company values and culture. It will give us access to a lot more resources and expertise for IN-PART to accelerate its growth and achieve its vision of connecting the academia-industry ecosystem, across all the research fields and sectors we work with. It’s a big moment for us and we’re looking forward to the next part of our journey with the amazing team at Inova.”
Patrick Speedie, co-founder and director of IN-PART, added: “In Inova, we’ve found a great strategic fit across our technology base and close alignment in terms of company values and culture.
"It will give us access to a lot more resources and expertise for IN-PART to accelerate its growth and achieve its vision of connecting the academia-industry ecosystem, across all the research fields and sectors we work with.
"It’s a big moment for us and we’re looking forward to the next part of our journey with the amazing team at Inova.”