Northumbria University is one of five North East universities backing a new £22.5m fund designed to accelerate the region’s research into high-growth new businesses.
The North East Spinout Inspire Fund, supported by £10m investment from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) and the North East Fund Ltd. and a total of £12.5m from Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland, and Teesside universities, is launched today (Thursday 11 June).
Focusing on transforming cutting-edge research into high-growth new businesses based in the region, the Fund was announced in the same week that Universities UK launched the Future Innovators: University Innovation Drives Growth campaign that showcases innovation within the higher education sector, with the aim of attracting inward investment, accelerating tech adoption and creating a culture of scaling up research ideas with potential.
The Inspire Fund will particularly support early-stage spinout businesses, where risk is higher and funding is often harder to secure from private sector investors alone – a critical access to finance gap identified by the North East MSA and the universities in the region.
