A new £1.25m fund designed for entrepreneurs that are seeking finance to ‘early-discovery’ stage of projects has been launched.
Early stage investment specialist E-Synergy has been appointed to manage the new Emerald II Proof of Concept Fund which will look at projects at nine of London’s universities.
Its predecessor, Emerald I, invested nearly £800,000 in more than 50 creative and technology-based businesses.
The Fund’s purpose is to bridge the funding gap between the completion of a research programme and commercial exploitation.
“We are looking forward to working with E-Synergy once more on the Emerald Fund and building on the great successes to date” said John Perry, acting head of Innovation and Enterprise at London Metropolitan University.
E-Synergy has a track record of providing early stage finance, support and training to entrepreneurs developing businesses with high growth potential.
John White, director of E-Synergy and co-ordinator of the Emerald Fund, said: “The pre-commercial phase is a critical time because of the constant challenge of taking academic research and turning it into a commercial reality to give the products, jobs and economic wealth we will all benefit from in the future.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
