European Investment Fund announces Cornerstone Investment in the UMIP Premier Fund

The European Investment Fund announces a cornerstone investment in the UMIP Premier Fund.
First closing was completed at GBP 32m with a final target at GBP 50m.
The UMIP Premier Fund was created at the initiative of the University of Manchester in order to invest in high growth businesses emerging from its research base. Manchester University is a research powerhouse and counts some 22 Nobel Prize winners amongst its former staff and students.
The UMIP Fund will focus on investing in young companies, and crucially will have both the ability and capacity to support their growth through follow-on investment.  The Fund will focus primarily on proof-of-principle, seed and post-seed investments in all areas of technology (engineering sciences, physical sciences and medical and life sciences).
In this landmark operation, EIF’s investment will enable the creation of a leading technology transfer operation delivering significant results in terms of wealth creation, new company formation, but also further development of technology. This investment allows EIF to address an unmet need in the field of commercialisation of intellectual property from universities.
This investment was made under the European Commission Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP-GIF1). GIF1 aims to help businesses with their establishment or early stages of development.