Imperial innovates its way to profit

(By Anthony Miller – Wednesday 7th October 2009 7:45am). In case there is any doubt about UK technology innovation, I can assure you that there is at least one hotbed that ably dispels any such concern. Imperial Innovations (II), the AIM-listed VC ‘incubator’ arm of London’s Imperial College, turned last year’s £7m pre-tax loss into a £5m pre-tax profit (see here). More importantly, II invested over £14m in 20 companies during the year and launched six start-ups. It also made its first significant exit, achieving a near-£100m valuation for home-grown pharma business, Thiakis.

I tell you this because I met II Chief Investment Officer, Russ Cummings, yesterday and was just knocked out by the work they’re doing to commercialise really exciting technologies being developed at Imperial College, including some great software. TechMarketView subscription service clients will be able to see the full story in the next edition of IndustryViews Private Equity next month and I can assure you it will make uplifting reading.