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Launch of IP Venture Fund II

23 May 2013

IP Group plc launches £30m fund in partnership with the EIF

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Company" or "the Group"), the developer of intellectual property based businesses, is delighted to announce that it has established a new £30 million venture capital fund, IP Venture Fund II (the "Fund"), in partnership with the European Investment Fund (the "EIF"), one of the leading venture capital investors in Europe.

IP Venture Fund II will invest alongside IP Group in new spin-out companies from IP Group's university partnerships and other collaborations, with the EIF effectively investing alongside IP Group. The Fund comprises £30 million of capital with a £20 million contribution from the EIF and a £10 million contribution from IP Group. The Fund will co-invest with IP Group in such ratio that the effective investment ratio between IP Group and the EIF will be 4:1 when considering that IP Group will also directly provide capital to companies alongside the Fund.

The creation of the Fund follows the success of its predecessor, IP Venture Fund, IP Group's original £31m fund with the EIF which was created in 2006. To date, IP Venture Fund has invested £21m into 26 of the Group's portfolio companies.

As with the original fund, IP Venture Fund II will be managed by Top Technology Ventures Limited, the FCA authorised venture capital fund management subsidiary of IP Group.

Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: "We are delighted to have agreed a second fund with the EIF; a key partner for the Group who share a similar view on the importance of providing long-term 'patient' capital to intellectual property commercialisation. Finding like-minded partners to invest alongside us remains an important component of our model; ensuring our most promising companies have access to patient capital as well as delivering synergistic value to both shareholders and partners. We are very much looking forward to our expanded relationship with the EIF."

Piyush Unalkat, Principal (Equity Investments) of the EIF, said: "We have been working with IP Group since 2006 and have been impressed by the Group's ability to build valuable companies from the best of British intellectual property and evidence returns to co-investors and shareholders. We look forward to creating the next generation of spin-outs with the new Fund."

For more information, please contact:

IP Group plc

Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer            
+44 (0) 20 7444 0050
Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications   
+44 (0) 20 7444 0062 / +44 (0) 7979 853 802

FTI Consulting

Ben  Atwell, John Dineen
+44 (0) 20 7831 3113

EIF

Piyush Unalkat, Principal
+352 2485 81529
Joelle Harvey, EIF Communications,
+352 2485 81340 
 
Notes for editors
 
About IP Group
 
IP Group is a leading UK intellectual property ("IP") commercialisation company, developing technology innovations primarily from its research intensive partner universities. The Group offers more than traditional venture capital, providing its companies with access to business building expertise, networks, recruitment and business support.
 
The Company's portfolio comprises holdings in over 70 companies including Oxford Nanopore Technologies, the DNA sequencing development company, Revolymer, best known for its removable chewing gum and Xeros, which has received many accolades for its revolutionary clothes washing techniques with a much reduced requirement for water.
 
The portfolio includes early stage to mature businesses and has exposure to five main sectors - Energy & Renewables, Medical Equipment & Supplies, Pharma & Biotech, IT & Communications and Chemicals & Materials. To date, fifteen of the portfolio companies IP Group has backed have listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and one on ISDX.
 
Founded in 2001, IP Group listed on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006.
 
For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.
 
About the EIF
 
EIF's central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. EIF's total net commitments to private equity funds amounted to over EUR 6.9bn at end 2012. With investments in over 435 funds, EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage segments. EIF's guarantees loan portfolio totalled over EUR 4.7bn in close to 255 operations at end 2012, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.
 
For more information, visit www.eif.org.
 
Ends

For the EIF release, please click here.

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