Four New University Partnerships

RNS Number : 6067B

Mercia Technologies PLC

20 June 2016

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

20 June 2016

Mercia Technologies PLC

"Mercia" or "the Group"

Four New University Partnerships in Scotland and the North of England

Creates one of the largest networks of University Partnerships in the UK

Mercia Technologies PLC (AIM: MERC), which is focused on the creation, funding and scaling of innovative technology businesses with high growth potential from the UK regions, is pleased to announce that it has secured four new university partnerships in the North of England and Scotland. The four new partnerships with Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of St Andrews in Scotland and Sheffield Hallam University in the North of England, will further enhance Mercia's ability to source promising investment opportunities in two of the Group's key target regions for expansion.

Mercia now benefits from a significant network of 18 university partners which reflect the Group's regional presence in the Midlands (nine universities), the North of England (four) and Scotland (five), in line with its strategy to be the "go-to" finance provider for high growth, innovative businesses in these regions.

These collaborative university partnerships provide the Group with access to an excellent flow of spin-out and early stage investment opportunities. Together with the professional network of Mercia's technology transfer team, the university partnerships provide Mercia with a compelling ability to source new investments. This is central to Mercia's strategy to create shareholder value by nurturing and providing funding continuity to innovative businesses from an early stage via its third party funds through to  maturity via its own balance sheet cash resources.

Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer of Mercia, commented:

"These new Scottish university partnerships via our office in Edinburgh, alongside our existing partners of Abertay and Strathclyde Universities reflect our strengthening presence in one of our target regions as we seek to become the go-to provider of finance for innovative Scottish companies. Meanwhile, following our recent acquisition of Enterprise Ventures, the partnership with Sheffield Hallam University will similarly continue to build our presence in the North of England alongside York, Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores universities.

Providing approximately a third of all our investment activity, these additional partnerships support our continued ability to work with universities to identify investment opportunities."

For further information, please contact:

Mercia Technologies PLC Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer Martin Glanfield, Chief Financial Officer www.merciatechnologies.com	[phone]
Cenkos Securities plc Ivonne Cantu / Mark Connelly (NOMAD)	[phone]
Buchanan Sophie McNulty, Victoria Watkins, Stephanie Watson www.buchanan.uk.com	[phone]

About Mercia Technologies PLC

Mercia is a national investment group focused on the creation, funding and scaling of innovative businesses with high growth potential from the UK regions.  Mercia benefits from 18 university partnerships and six offices across the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland, providing it with access to high quality, regional deal flow.  Mercia is quoted on AIM with the epic "MERC".

Mercia's "complete capital solution" investment model initially nurtures businesses via its third party funds under management (expanded to circa £220 million following its acquisition of Enterprise Ventures Group) and then over time Mercia can provide further funding to its emerging stars thanks to its ability to deploy direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance sheet.

In a recent report (Source: Beauhurst, The Deal, 2015/16), Mercia was found to be the fifth most active investor in the UK and the fourth most active in technology.  Since its IPO in December 2014, the Company has invested over £20 million directly across its portfolio of emerging stars and continues to seek both early stage third party investment opportunities as well as providing its emerging stars with the required capital and management support to build towards exits that will realise incremental value for Mercia shareholders.

About our new partner universities

Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, is one of the UK's leading universities for business and industry with a reputation for innovative education, enterprise and cutting edge applied research. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 ranked 82% of Heriot-Watt's research as world-leading or internationally excellent, as well as the university being recognised as 1^st in Scotland for research impact. It has a particularly strong presence in computer science, mathematics, physics and engineering and a strong pipeline of projects benefiting from the Scottish Enterprise High-Growth Spinout Programme to transition technology from the lab to industry. In addition, the Converge Challenge team, Scotland's largest entrepreneurial training programme, which is based at the university, has contributed enormously to raising the profile and discipline of entrepreneurship across all Scottish universities.

Edinburgh Napier University adopts a focused approach to its teaching and research provision, with six dedicated Institutes of Research and Innovation aligned with the present and future needs of businesses. A cross-disciplinary approach to collaboration combines design, informatics and engineering alongside industry. Edinburgh Napier has also supported more than 250 student start-up companies to date, leading to it being named in a 2014 report by Biggar Economics as the most successful university in Scotland for graduate enterprise and start-ups.

The University of St Andrews is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world. It is one of Europe's most research intensive seats of learning with over a quarter of its revenues coming from research grants and contracts and 82% of research judged as world-leading or internationally excellent by REF in 2014. It is particularly renowned for its biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, life sciences and advanced materials capabilities.

Sheffield Hallam University is one of the largest universities in the UK, with more than 31,500 students. Its research expertise is in areas as diverse as biosciences, sport, social science, arts, engineering and business, and is characterised by a focus on real world impact - addressing the cultural, economic and social challenges facing society today. This research expertise ranks Sheffield Hallam in the top five for modern universities in the most recent Research Excellence Framework assessments for world-leading or internationally excellent research.

 

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