The Royal Society has today announced that its Enterprise Fund is open for business with an initial ВЈ5 million raised through donations from several of the UK's most highly respected business leaders
The Royal Society Enterprise Fund will open its doors to scientific enterprises and innovators seeking early stage investment of between ВЈ250,000 and ВЈ2 million. The Fund's initial focus will be on backing commercially exciting opportunities based on advances in the physical sciences and engineering.
"There is a lot of talk in the UK at the moment about innovation but the Royal Society is taking action in the hope of stimulating a genuine cultural change. We have successful scientific entrepreneurs in the UK but we should have a lot more. Challenges such as climate change offer great opportunities for the UK to provide global economic leadership based on scientific endeavour." Said Sir Peter Williams, Vice-President of the Royal Society.
The Royal Society believes that innovation is essential in today's knowledge economy and to bring the maximum benefit of science to pressing human and environmental challenges. By leading this effort, the Society seeks to catalyse a fundamental culture change within the scientific community by encouraging scientists and engineers to seek entrepreneurial applications of their research.
Andrew Mackintosh, Chief Executive of the Royal Society Enterprise Fund, commented: "Our mission is to create a bridge between today's early scientific ideas and tomorrow's technological and commercial winners. Early stage ventures present the highest commercial and financial risk and are therefore starved of investment. Our philanthropic structure combined with our highly commercial approach and unrivalled access to the UK science base will unlock new technologies and ideas that will bring significant and lasting economic and societal benefits to the UK."
The Society has identified three key gaps within the UK innovation environment: a financing gap for early-stage, seed investments under ВЈ2 million; a preparedness gap with technology businesses going to the market for financing too early; and a research gap with comparatively poor funding of physical sciences and engineering ventures.
The Enterprise Fund will encourage this culture change and address these gaps by raising ВЈ20 million from donations using a model of venture philanthropy to support science. The philanthropic structure of the Enterprise Fund will enable all financial gains to be returned to the Fund for reinvestment in future scientific innovations, making it a sustainable living endowment. Within 7 months of its launch, The Royal Society is pleased to announce that it has secured donations amounting to over ВЈ5 million from a number of the UK's most highly regarded business leaders, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Lead donors to the Enterprise Fund include:
- Lord Sainsbury of Turville, former Science Minister and Chair of the Royal Society 350th Anniversary Campaign
- Roger Brooke, Founder of Candover Investments and a founding director of IP Group
- Adrian Beecroft, Senior Managing Partner of Apax Partners, Member of the Royal Society 350th Anniversary Campaign Board
- Stelio Stefanou, Former Chairman of Accord Plc
The Fund will be run on a commercial basis and will leverage the unrivalled market and technical assessment capabilities of the Fellows of the Royal Society who represent all areas of science, engineering and medicine. The Fellows form a global scientific network of the highest calibre, which includes nearly 70 Nobel Laureates.
Donor and advisor to the Enterprise Fund, Roger Brooke said: "The Enterprise Fund is an exciting, measurable, sustainable and high impact model of philanthropy strengthening science and our future economic health. The Royal Society is uniquely placed to drive this forward. I have become involved to help ensure the UK has a strong future and the fruits of science are brought to society."
Over the coming months, the Enterprise Fund will seek to raise funds from additional donors towards its target fund size of ВЈ20 million. Lead gifts are sought from visionary leaders who wish to support scientific innovation in the UK and will become members of the prestigious Royal Society Presidents' Circle, joining like-minded leaders who have made major benefactions to the Royal Society's ВЈ100 million 350th Anniversary Campaign.
1. The Royal Society is an independent academy promoting the natural and applied sciences. Founded in 1660, the Society has three roles, as the UK academy of science, as a learned Society, and as a funding agency. It responds to individual demand with selection by merit, not by field. As we prepare for our 350th anniversary in 2010, we are working to achieve five strategic priorities to:
- Invest in future scientific leaders and in innovation
- Influence policymaking with the best scientific advice
- Invigorate science and mathematics education
- Increase access to the best science internationally
- Inspire an interest in the joy, wonder and excitement of scientific discovery
2. A panel of business experts provides strategic guidance to the Enterprise Fund. They include:
- Adrian Beecroft, FInstP, Senior Managing Partner, Apax Partners
- Roger Brooke, Founder of Candover Investments, and a founding director of IP Group
- Stephen Brooke, Founder and Managing Partner of Swarraton Partners
- Anne Glover, Founder and CEO of Amadeus Capital Partners
- Sir Peter Williams CBE FREng FRS, Treasurer of the Royal Society
3. Further information on the process for making philanthropic donations and the Royal Society's ВЈ100 million fundraising campaign for 2010 can be found at royalsociety/campaign
4. Further information on submitting investment proposals to the Royal Society Enterprise Fund can be found on the Royal Society's website at royalsociety/enterprisefund/
The Royal Society
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