Europe
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Brechtje Vreenegoor, Sebastiaan Berendse: In agriculture, spinouts need to reform the whole system
Wageningen University & Research is a truly unique organisation combining a higher education institution with an applied research institute. Listen now to find out what challenges and opportunities this presents.
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Czech Academy of Sciences forms subsidiary to double down on spinouts
The subsidiary is co-owned by an initial eight institutes within the Czech Academy of Sciences, with aims to sign up more of the total 54 institutes.
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Rich Ferrie leaves Royal Veterinary College for Babraham Research Campus
Rich Ferrie is moving on from the RVC’s London Bioscience Innovation Centre after four years to become CEO of the Babraham Research Campus.
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Inven2 brings in Hans Vassgård Eid to double down on investments
Hans Vassgård Eid’s appointment comes half a year after the tech transfer office Inven2 helped launch a life sciences investment fund.
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Helsinki Innovation Services CEO Marko Hakovirta set to leave in six months
Helsinki Innovation Services’ chief executive officer, Marko Hakovirta, will become president of the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
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Amanda Selvaratnam joins York St John University to lead knowledge exchange
Amanda Selvaratnam has spent the past 27 years at the University of York, most recently as associate director of research and enterprise and head of enterprise services.
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Rosie Bennett returns to SETsquared as interim executive director
Rosie Bennett had worked for SETsquared from 2017 to 2022, and later followed former colleague Simon Bond to Bristol Innovations.
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University of Klagenfurt establishes TTO led by Harald Jenull
The Austrian university has launched a technology transfer office and recruited commercialisation expert Harald Jenull as founding director.
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UKRI releases report into deepening university-investor links
The review, released today, was written by Tony Hickson and makes four sets of recommendations, including a significant boost to preseed funding.
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Constructor Capital closes $110 million Fund I
Constructor Group, which operates the private Constructor University in Germany, plans to invest in seed and series A rounds.
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City St George’s promotes Ian Gibbs to head of IP and commercialisation
Ian Gibbs has worked for City St George’s, University of London since 2017, having served as the head of academic enterprise since 2018.
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UI Investissement raises €60 million for PI3 Fund, targets €100 million
UI Investissement has inked partnerships with more than 25 universities and research institutions across Europe.
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ZOHO.VC achieves first close for Nuremberg-based fund
ZOHO.VC is the investment fund of Zollhof, the incubator-turned-startup-factory affiliated with the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen–Nuremberg.
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Fraunhofer’s TT49 achieves €72 million first close
TT49 is the successor to the Fraunhofer Technology Transfer Fund and has a target size of €90 million.
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Swedish government puts SEK40 million into university holding companies
Sweden’s university holding companies act as the commercialisation and investment arm of their respective institutions.
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Montana Children’s Health secures €30 million to commercialise paediatric healthcare research
The vehicle is the first to receive a capital commitment through the EIF and Madrid government’s Innvierte Technology Transfer & Deep-Tech fund of funds.
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Epidarex secures £50 million from British Business Bank for new fund
Epidarex Capital focuses on early-stage life sciences spinouts from medical research institutions in the US and the UK.
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Austria inches closer to spinout fund of funds
The Austrian government has released its industrial strategy with 114 action points, including a commitment to a fund of funds to bolster spinouts.
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University of Bristol hires SETsquared’s Marty Reid as director of innovation
Marty Reid is currently the executive director of enterprise partnership SETsquared, of which the University of Bristol is a member.
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Aberdeen appoints Lucy Leiper as director of innovation
The University of Aberdeen has named Lucy Leiper as interim director of research and innovation.
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PSV Hafnium closes €60 million fund
The fund was launched in 2024 with an initial €55 million and a hard cap of €80 million, closing at the lower end of the scale.
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University of Manchester is quietly raising a pre-seed fund
The University of Manchester already has a stake in Northern Gritstone but is in the process of raising a separate pre-seed fund.
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QUBIS appoints Marina Donohoe as its next CEO
Marina Donohoe will succeed Brian McCaul, who announced his decision to step down earlier this year.
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Mikkel Sørensen steps down from DTU Skylab to focus on SkyFactory
After twelve years with TU Denmark’s innovation hub Skylab, Mikkel Sørensen is putting his focus on the new DTU SkyFactory.
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Cambridge tasks Roland Sinker with inclusive innovation review
Roland Sinker will lead a review into the delivery of inclusive innovation and growth for the University of Cambridge over the next year.
