Nanotecture 2nd round finance
IP2IPO Group PLC
02 April 2004
For Immediate Release 2 April 2004
IP2IPO Group plc
Nanotecture secures £1.6 million in second round finance
IP2IPO Group plc (AIM: IPO) ('IP2IPO'), the intellectual property company that
commercialises university technology, is pleased to announce that Nanotecture
Limited ('Nanotecture'), a spin-out company from the University of Southampton
in which IP2IPO acquired an interest in February 2003, has succeeded in raising
£1.6 million in second-round finance.
In line with its business model, IP2IPO did not subscribe for new shares. Post
completion of the round, Nanotecture is capitalised at £5.1 million and IP2IPO
has a 16% shareholding. Nanotecture develops materials based on nanometer scale
structures, which have a wide range of applications including power sources,
sensors and bio-filtration.
This second round of finance was supported by a number of institutional
investors and was heavily oversubscribed. Since Nanotecture's formation in
February 2003, the Company has made significant progress by meeting key
technical milestones and by securing development contracts with a number of
major multi-national corporations. The new finance will enable the Company to
establish a development facility, expand its commercial activities and make
additional investment in research and development.
David Norwood, IP2IPO's Chief Executive Officer, commented:
'This is a highly innovative company with an extremely strong IP position. The
second round of finance is a great endorsement and will enable the company to
build on the rapid progress that it has made over the course of the past 12
months.'
Dr Rob Neat, Nanotecture's Chief Executive Officer, added:
'Our patented technology offers significant commercial advantages and has
enabled us to sign a number of revenue-generating contracts. We are delighted
at the level of support from new investors, and following this round of funding,
we are well-positioned to accelerate both our technical and commercial
development.'
For more information contact:
IP2IPO
David Norwood, Chief Executive Officer 020 7071 4348
Nanotecture
Dr Rob Neat, Chief Executive Officer 07960 950 956
Buchanan Communications
Tim Anderson, Mark Court, Mary-Jane Johnson 020 7466 5000
Notes to editors
IP2IPO
IP2IPO is an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises in
commercialising university technology. The Company, which was founded in 2001,
has already formed four long-term partnerships with UK universities and listed
on AIM in October 2003.
IP2IPO's first partnership 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 licenses based on
intellectual property created at the Chemistry Department until 2015. In
November 2003, IP2IPO created a £5 million seed capital fund for investing in
spin-out companies across the University of Oxford, not just those originating
within the Chemistry Department.
In March 2002, IP2IPO 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 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 entered into its third long-term partnership in May 2003 with King's
College London. IP2IPO will work with King's College London to help identify
and progress commercialisation opportunities as well as invest £5 million in
seed capital in spin-out companies from King's College London over a five year
period in return for equity stakes in those companies. In addition, IP2IPO 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 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.
Nanotecture
Nanotecture was formed in February 2003 to develop nano-materials based on
intellectual property generated in the Chemistry Department at the University of
Southampton. The Company has a proprietary methodology for the manufacture of
structures on the nanometre-scale. (1 nanometre is 1 billionth of a metre).
These structures have the benefits of conventional particulate nano-materials,
but with the following additional advantages: the structures are easier to
handle and position and can therefore be lower cost; can be designed and
tailored to suit specific applications and are continuous and therefore have
much better electronic performance.
Nanotecture is currently focussing on delivering this platform technology for
customers in power sources, sensors, and separation of biological molecules.
The Company has generated significant commercial interest and has signed
contracts with a number of large multi-national corporations.
Prof Phil Bartlett founded Nanotecture with two academic colleagues from the
University of Southampton, Prof George Attard and Dr John Owen. Prof Bartlett
was previously head of the Chemistry Department and is now head of Chemistry
Research. Dr Rob Neat joined the Company as CEO in October 2003. He was
formerly Group CEO at battery company Ion Energy and previous to that was MD at
AEA Technology Batteries where he managed a successful lithium-ion battery
licensing programme.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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