Imperial Innovations declares six-month results

Imperial Innovations Group, the technology commercialisation company based at Imperial College London, ended the six months to the end of January 2008 with net assets of £82.9 million, up by £29.3 million from the start of the year, due mainly to the issue of new equity in November 2007.

Significant activity during the six months included two funding rounds for therapeutic companies, rasing £11 million for Circassia and £13 million for Respivert. Imperial Innovations also founded and raised capital for i2india, an associate business in India formed to work with Indian research organisations to commercialise ideas following the Innovations Group model. i2india will also act as a vehicle through which Innovations Group technologies can be introduced to partners and customers in India.

The Group also won a contract to provide commercialisation services to the UK’s National Physical Laboratory for its research activities. The signing of the contract followed a three-month trial during which Imperial Innovations reviewed a large number of NPL’s projects.

A number of companies in the portfolio emerged as substantial early stage businesses with exciting, tangible prospects, says the Group. In total, £35 million was raised by portfolio companies, of which the Group invested £3.1 million. Meanwhile, Ceres Power has made “exciting progress”, said chairman Martin Knight, through its deal with Centrica plc, in bringing its fuel cell technology to market.

Chief executive Susan Searle reported on a “steady flow of new ideas” from Imperial College, with 150 new inventions and 24 patents filed. Six projects were approved for proof-of-concept funding. The un-commercialised patent portfolio size is 205: “this provides an indication of the ideas in stock possibly capable of being commercialised,” said Searle.

Said Knight, “The Group continues to be focused on getting technology to market and is excited about the opportunities within both its own product portfolio and its portfolio of technology businesses.”