Investors and leading figures from the VC industry gathered at an Investor Summit in the City on 27 November 2009 to hear more information on the fund and the types of companies and technologies it will invest in.
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Click here to see a short film of the summit
The Day In Quotes
“The strength of the UK is know how…The people you are getting in the science base here are just as good as MIT or Stanford and it is fundamental technology and it is incredibly defensible and valuable. That is the raw material.”
Mike Lynch, Founder and CEO, Autonomy
“We have four of the top 10 universities in the world. When we put great science together with world class management teams we must provide them with sufficient capital to grow and develop”
Susan Searle, CEO, Imperial Innovations
“The management we have in here in the UK really knows how to deliver value for its investors…For those UK companies which exited at a value greater than $100m it took less capital to reach that exit than their US counterparts.
Less capital and lower valuations produce higher returns.
American and Asian investors are ready to pounce on firms whose products and services have global reach…No one wants to miss out on the next Plastic Logic.”
Lord Drayson
“Over the last 15 years we have committed £2 billion to the asset class. Since we began investing we have demonstrated a 66% IRR. We view venture capital as being able to provide returns that more than justifying the risk in individual investments.”
Geoffrey Love, Head of Ventures, The Wellcome Trust
Domestically, four VC-backed firms have reached a market valuation of over $1 billion post-exit: Autonomy, Tradus, Betfair, Cambridge Silicon Radio – all tech firms. My own firm, PowderJect, made a 40x return for its venture capital investors, growing into a £550 million company in 10 years.”
Lord Drayson
The challenges in dealing with resource scarcity climate change and ageing demographics all represent major opportunities for venture capitalists.
Geoffrey Love, Head of Ventures, The Wellcome Trust
“We have to start thinking about venture capitalism not as a niche industry but as a vital seed stock for the next generation of British corporate innovators. Our economic future literally depends on our getting this right”
Peter Mandelson
“The UK Innovation Investment Fund will have a ruthless focus on achieving a strong return. There is no Government political agenda here.
The UK Innovation Investment Fund is fundamentally a hard-nosed commercial proposition. This isn't about appealing to your better natures. This is about business pure and simple – and the opportunity to make strong returns – both for taxpayers and investors.”
Lord Drayson
The Programme
Click on the links in the table below to download copies of the speeches and presentations.
| Introduction |
The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson
Secretary of State, BIS |
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| Reshaping the UK Economy |
Julian Callow Managing Director, Chief European Economist, Barclays Capital (88 KB) |
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| UK VC – A Vintage Year |
Ashley Coups Private Equity Assurance Leader, PwC(478 KB) |
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Home-grown Entrepreneurs –
The University Spin Out |
Teri Willey CEO, Cambridge Enterprises(2 MB)
Susan Searle CEO, Imperial Innovations(977 KB) |
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| An Investor’s Perspective |
Geoffrey Love
Head of Ventures,
The Wellcome Trust |
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Creating a World Leader –
From university lab to FTSE100 |
Dr Mike Lynch
Founder and CEO,
Autonomy |
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| UKIIF – The Opportunity |
Lord Drayson Science and Innovation Minister Former Founder and CEO, PowderJect Pharmaceuticals Plc (48 KB) |
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Panel Discussion
chaired by Simon Walker,
Chief Exec BVCA |
Lord Drayson
Dr Mike Lynch
Rory Earley
CEO Capital for Enterprise Ltd
Professor Mike Wright,
University of Nottingham
Simon Whitney,
SJ Berwin |
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Showcasing Leading Technology Companies
The UK’s position as a technology leader was demonstrated with displays from Anarkik3D, Apatech, Glysure, Heptares Therapeutics, Horizon Discovery, Icera, Immune Targeting Systems, MBA Polymers, Natural Motion, Novacem, TMO Renewables
Click here for more information on featured companies(252 KB)
Audience
The Summit attracted the interest of key players in the investor and VC community. Amongst the audience were representatives from: Aviva, Axa, BP, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, RailPen, Standard Life, West Midlands Pension Fund, Abingworth, Advent, Albion, Amadeus, Capital Dynamics, Hermes, MTI, Pantheon and many others.
Press
Click here to see the Press Notice accompanying this event.
