H2O-EPSRC Follow-on Fund Initiative

Background

H2O Venture Partners and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) have joined forces in a strategic initiative to support the commercialisation of technologies arising from EPSRC’s prestigious Follow-on Fund (FoF) awards.

EPSRC currently supports almost six thousand grants worth a total of over £3 billion. The FoF helps researchers to convert the most commercial of this research into business propositions by supporting essential technical and commercial development as part of a plausible commercialisation strategy. 

Since the pilot call in 2004, EPSRC has supported 92 such projects with a combined value of almost £7 million. In the next financial year (April 2009 to March 2010), EPSRC expects to award a further £4 million in FoF grants. Applications must demonstrate a strong commercial focus and should not be predominantly concerned with overcoming technical obstacles or extending the original research. Individual awards are limited to a maximum duration of 12 months. 

The H2O-EPSRC Strategic Alliance

The H2O-EPSRC Initiative will allow a subset of FoF projects to benefit from additional finance, and the support of H2O’s team of experienced technology entrepreneurs through our standard investment model. The opportunity arising from H2O’s input during these critical early stages is to optimise the trajectory of the nascent business through careful planning and an early dialogue with the market.

Those FoF projects selected to benefit from the H2O-EPSRC Initiative will secure cash investment from H2O to cover commercial expenses, such as branding and marketing. EPSRC will also offer a £30k enhancement to the standard follow-on grant to allow additional, commercially-driven technical work. Alongside this, H2O will provide full-blooded commercial management in partnership with the founder scientists, the University TTO and other stakeholders, to take the business through to First Round investment.

The Award Process

This opportunity will be included in the next EPSRC call for follow-on proposals, to be issued on 22 September 2008 with a closing date of 26 February 2009. The review and selection of successful FoF projects by EPSRC will take place in the normal way. Those successful applicants whose projects might benefit from the H2O-EPSRC Initiative will be approached to establish interest and to negotiate investment terms.

For more information about the Follow-on Fund, please contact David Mahoney of EPSRC on 01793 444395 or email david.mahoney@epsrc.ac.uk.