Created in 1999 through the DTI’s University Challenge competition, the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund is an early stage seedcorn fund, which invests in exciting new technology emerging from the Universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield.The £9m Fund provides venture capital funding of up to £250,000 (and above for exceptional opportunities), where we share the risks and the rewards. We help growing companies with management input, advice and experience and bring an investor’s viewpoint to bear at an early stage.
Investment is provided to enable the transition from promising research work to commercial reality. The portfolio of investee companies represents the commercialisation of high quality science and technology combined with professional management teams to produce investor-ready and partner-ready opportunities.
The Fund is actively making investments and is not limited in the technology area it can invest in. It has made a number of investments in areas such as sensors, software, wound healing, photo dynamic therapy and other opportunities with exciting growth potential, protectable IP and committed management teams where a seedcorn investment can make the opportunity standalone and/or attractive to later stage investors and trade partners.
The WRTSF focuses on investment in innovative research from the Universities that can demonstrate the following criteria:
• Research with protectable intellectual property;
• Significant market opportunity;
• A committed management team.
The Fund is owned by the Universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield, and managed by Aberdeen Murray Johnstone Private Equity.
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| Axordia secures further funding to advance stem cell programmes |
27 January 2006 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Sheffield stem cell research company Axordia Ltd has announced a further investment boost from existing investor Biofusion plc. |
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| Sheffield's CellTran secures £2.7 million finance |
21 September 2005 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Biotechnology company CellTran Ltd has secured further £2.7 million funding from a syndicate of investors which includes its original supporter, the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. |
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| Plasso secures $2.8 million investment for coating technology |
18 January 2005 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Plasso Technology Ltd has secured $2.8m (£1.5 million) second round funding from a Boston-based institutional investor which focuses on discoveries within UK academic institutions in the life sciences and physical sciences. |
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| Instrumentel secures further funding for unique locking technology |
23 November 2004 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
The company behind the revolutionary wireless telemetry system being developed for use in Formula 1 racing has secured further funding from investors to bring a ground breaking new security product to market. |
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| Vistatec York secures follow-on funding for pioneering 'See & Treat' cancer technology |
07 June 2004 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Vistatec York Ltd, whose groundbreaking technology offers the potential for earlier and more accurate detection and treatment of cancer, has secured follow-on funding from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. The company has also announced the appointment of James Spearman to the position of Chief Executive Officer. This latest funding brings WRTSF's total investment in Vistatec to just over £400,000. |
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| Skin cell bandages for burns |
27 April 2004 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Doctors have been impressed with the rapid recovery rates instigated by the 'tailor-made' discs, which have been devised by a research team at the Sheffield company, CellTran, with financial support from the Wellcome Trust biomedical research charity and the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. They will be officially launched at the British Burn Association's annual meeting in Manchester tomorrow (28 April 2004). |
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| Pro-Cure secures £150k follow-on funding for novel cancer therapies |
22 December 2003 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Pro-Cure Therapeutics Ltd, the University of York spinout specializing in novel cancer therapies has secured a further £150,000 venture capital from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. The company has also announce the appointment of industry expert Dr Alan Raymond as CEO. |
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| Sheffield spinout announces follow-on finance to target flu virus |
08 June 2003 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Adjuvantix Limited, the Sheffield based biotechnology company specialising in novel vaccine components, today announced the completion of a further investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, bringing its total funding to £400,000. |
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| Plasso secures venture capital investment |
15 May 2003 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
University of Sheffield spin-out company, Plasso Technology Ltd, has secured first round venture capital of £400,000 from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, the venture capital fund owned by the universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. This investment is one of the largest to date from the WRTSF since its creation in 1999. |
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| Icona sees bright future for unique visualisation software |
13 February 2003 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Spinout company, Icona Solutions Ltd. launched this week backed by a £300,000 investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, the venture capital fund owned by the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. Icona will market innovative software, developed within the Informatics Institute at the University of Leeds, to visualise the impact of manufacturing variation on product quality. |
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| Laser power to give new hope to cancer patients |
25 November 2002 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
A world-leading Centre for research into novel cancer cures at the University of Leeds is to market its unique products and services, following a £250,000 investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, the venture capital fund owned by the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. |
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| UK company unveils new generation of immunological adjuvants |
13 August 2002 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
A strong portfolio of intellectual property in the field of adjuvant technology and key management appointments has Sheffield-based life science company Adjuvantix Ltd well positioned in its ambition to enter the $5 billion vaccine market. |
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| Leeds Dental Technology Start-up launched |
28 February 2002 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Dental technology company, D-Sense Ltd., launched this week, backed by an initial £250,000 equity investment by the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. The new company will commercially develop an innovative device that painlessly detects and measures tooth sensitivity, based on a diagnostic technique patented by Professor Neil Meredith from the Dental Institute, University of Leeds. |
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| Labour predictor device secures venture capital boost |
10 January 2002 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
A prototype of the unique device for pregnant women that will accurately predict the onset of labour is expected within six months, following the announcement of a substantial investment led by entrepreneur and business angel, Graham Cooper. |
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| Leeds academic to accelerate Formula 1 engine development |
19 December 2001 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
A method of collecting data for engine performance analysis described as 'revolutionary' by industry experts has secured a Leeds academic £250,000 venture capital to develop its commercial potential. |
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| White Rose investment sees Axordia at cutting edge of stem cell research |
12 November 2001 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Two world-renowned scientists at the University of Sheffield have secured a £250,000 investment to extend their leading stem cell research and to develop therapeutic treatments for a range of debilitating diseases. |
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| Seedcorn Fund backs real time credit benchmarking innovation |
24 September 2001 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Companies will soon be able to check the payment behaviour of potential clients before they do business, thanks to a unique real time credit benchmarking service to be launched by two academics at Leeds University Business School. |
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| Supaplants to flourish thanks to White Rose venture capital |
10 August 2001 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
A range of innovative horticultural products will soon be available from Sheffield University's SupaPlants Ltd, thanks to a £250,000 investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. |
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| Venture capital fund backs new Yorkshire cancer hope |
20 June 2001 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Groundbreaking cancer research at the University of York received a major boost today with the announcement of a £250,000 investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. |
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| The White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund finances medical advancement |
02 March 2001 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
The White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund has invested £245,000 in the development of new drugs that have the potential to alleviate a whole range of hormone-related illnesses. |
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| Leeds spin-off hits seedcorn fund jackpot |
11 December 2000 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
The White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund has made its largest investment to date in University spin-off company Enabled Systems. |
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| The White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund fuels technological and medical breakthroughs |
22 November 2000 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Advised by Aberdeen Murray Johnstone Private Equity the WRTSF has made its largest investment to date of £250,000 in Enabled Systems Limited, a company originally spun out of the University of Leeds Innovations Ltd. Enabled Systems are experts in Product Data Management. |
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| Adjuvantix receives investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund |
23 October 2000 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Adjuvantix Limited, a new company set up to develop the research of Dr Andrew Heath of the Division of Genomic Medicine at Sheffield University, today received an investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. Murray Johnstone Private Equity, managed the investment process. |
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| University's pioneering skin research company receives investment from White Rose Technology Fund |
14 September 2000 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
CellTran Limited, a new company set up to market the pioneering research of two University of Sheffield academics, today received a substantial investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund |
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| Experts exploit ceramics advances |
03 July 2000 - White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund
Revolutionary materials and technological advances in electro-ceramics are to be exploited by a new company created as a spin-off from the materials department at the University of Leeds. |
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