The Royal Society has announced that its Enterprise Fund is open for business with an initial £5 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 £250,000 and £2 million. The Fund's initial focus will be on backing commercially exciting opportunities based on advances in the physical sciences and engineering.
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.
The Society has identified three key gaps within the UK innovation environment: a financing gap for early-stage, seed investments under £2 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.
Over the coming months, the Enterprise Fund will seek to raise funds from additional donors towards its target fund size of £20 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 £100 million 350th Anniversary Campaign.
For more information visit the
Royal Society website.