Investment in Phonologica Ltd
IP2IPO Group PLC
12 March 2004
For Immediate Release 12 March 2004
IP2IPO acquires stake in Phonologica Limited: a breakthrough
in the development of speech-recognition
IP2IPO Group plc (AIM: IPO) ('IP2IPO') the intellectual property company that
specialises in commercialising university technology is pleased to announce that
it has made an investment in Phonologica Limited ('Phonologica'), a new spin out
from King's College London. Phonologica aims to revolutionise the way in which
humans interact with machines by overcoming the current limitations of speech
recognition technology. Following the investment, IP2IPO will own a 42.3%
interest in Phonologica.
Phonologica's two founders, the eminent physicist Professor Roy Pike FRS,
Clerk-Maxwell Professor of Theoretical Physics and his colleague, the expert in
linguistics Dr Barbara Forbes, bring together a unique combination of skills.
Through their collaboration they have developed a unique and simple solution to
speech recognition based upon the mathematical analysis of how humans talk.
Phonologica's software is anticipated to be computationally very efficient,
noise tolerant and applicable to all languages, dialects and accents. In
contrast, currently available speech recognition products employ statistical
approaches, which either understand a restricted range of sounds or require
lengthy training. Existing speech recognition products also tend to require a
large amount of processing power and suffer in conditions where there is
background noise.
Despite the limitations of current technology the market for speech recognition
systems is growing strongly and is expected to be $4 billion in 2005.
Professor Pike, said: 'This revolutionary new approach is the 'Holy Grail' of
speech recognition because it will enable people for the first time to interact
naturally with electronic devices rather than to have to position themselves in
a particular way or minimise any background noise.'
Commenting on IP2IPO's investment in Phonologica, David Norwood, Chief Executive
Officer of IP2IPO, said 'Professor Pike and Dr Forbes have created a highly
innovative approach to speech recognition; in an area where a number of large
software companies are struggling to overcome existing product limitations. The
two founders are tremendously dedicated researchers and I think this company has
the potential to become very significant in its field.'
For more information contact:
IP2IPO
Dave Norwood , Chief Executive Officer 020 7488 4040
King's College London Enterprises
George Murlewski 020 7848 3665
Buchanan Communications
Tim Anderson, Mark Court, Mary-Jane Johnson 020 7466 5000
Notes to editors
About IP2IPO
IP2IPO is an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises in
commercialising university technology. The Company has already formed four
long-term partnerships with UK universities and listed on AIM in October 2003.
IP2IPO's first such collaboration was with the University of Oxford. In return
for an investment of £20 million, IP2IPO has acquired 50 per cent of the
University of Oxford's equity in spin-out companies and technology licences
based on intellectual property created at the Chemistry Department until 2015.
In March 2002, IP2IPO Limited entered into a second long-term partnership with
the University of Southampton. Under the terms of this partnership, IP2IPO is
committed to working with the University of Southampton in the identification
and facilitation of spin-out companies from across the University of Southampton
and to investing £5 million in early-stage University of Southampton spin-out
companies over a four year period in return for equity stakes in those
companies. In addition, IP2IPO Limited also received a 20 per cent stake in
Southampton Asset Management Limited, a company that has been formed to hold the
University's equity stakes in its future spin-out companies. The partnership has
a term of at least 25 years.
IP2IPO Limited entered into its third long-term partnership in May 2003 with
King's College London. IP2IPO Limited will work with King's College London to
help identify and progress commercialisation opportunities as well as invest £5
million in King's College London's spin-out companies over a five year period in
return for equity stakes in those companies. In addition, IP2IPO Limited will
receive 20 per cent. of King's College London's equity in spin-out companies and
technology licenses. The partnership has an initial term of 25 years.
In October 2003, IP2IPO announced a fourth partnership with the Centre for Novel
Agricultural Products ('CNAP'), based at the University of York. CNAP is a
flagship research centre that specialises in plant and microbial gene discovery.
Under the terms of the partnership a new company, Amaethon Limited, has been
created which has the right to commercialise CNAP's IP for 25 years. IP2IPO
Limited has committed to invest £1.15m in Amaethon Limited in return for a one
third equity stake in Amaethon Limited (the remaining equity being owned by the
University of York) and will also invest in the spin out companies based on
CNAP's IP which Amaethon Limited creates.
About King's College London
King's is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of London
with some 13,800 undergraduate students and some 5,300 postgraduates in ten
schools of study. The College had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest
rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an
international level. King's is in the top group of five universities for
research earnings with income from grants and contracts of more than £93 million
(2002-2003) and has an annual turnover of £320 million. King's is a member of
the Russell Group, a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities.
This information is provided by RNS
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