A Sheffield-based university and industry collaboration platform is facilitating the commercialisation of innovative research from over 70 universities across the globe just two years into operations.
IN-PART’s platform showcases licensing and collaboration opportunities from 70 universities to a rapidly growing community of over 2000 senior R&D decision makers in a diverse range of innovative companies from around the globe. The company actively monitors the interests of its users to match each opportunity to the right companies, streamlining a previously complicated and time-consuming process.
IN-PART is designed for use by universities of all sizes, enabling even the smallest research departments to have the same access to companies as the world’s leading universities. Despite being a relatively early-stage business, IN-PART’s customers have grown to over 70 universities from Australia, Japan, Europe and the USA.
It also works with R & D and business development professionals across many blue-chip organisations, including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, Rolls Royce, 3M and Dyson. In addition, IN-PART works with many SME organisations, making sure that they have easy access to technology and research that could be transformative for the business.
IN-PART is now working on making its match-making algorithms even smarter, with the aim of being the world’s leading academic and industry collaboration platform. To assist with its scale and growth, IN-PART is recruiting to increase its development, sales and science communication teams, and has also re-located to the Innovation Centre in Sheffield, with an additional office now in Shoreditch, London.
Patrick Speedie, Co-Founder of IN-PART, said:
“IN-PART’s algorithms facilitate the previously complicated process of building collaborative relationships between universities and businesses, making sure that the best academic research is able to reach the market and, ultimately, make a positive impact on the way we live our lives.
“I am pleased to see the progress that the business has made since it launched in 2014, securing big name clients including academic heavyweights such as the University of Cambridge and MIT.”
In January 2016, IN-PART received £300,000 from Mercia Fund Management, which helped the company to accelerate its international expansion. http://www.merciafund.co.uk/news/mfm-increases-university-support-invests-in-online-academic-and-commercial-collaboration-platform-in-part/
Dr Brijesh Roy, Investment Manager at Mercia who also works as part of Mercia’s Universities team, said:
“We invested six months ago to ensure that IN-PART was able to build out the community of academic departments and R & D decision makers beyond its UK base, and I am pleased to see it is rapidly becoming the world’s leading portal to access university research.
“IN-PART’s impressive revenue growth and international client base is testament to the vital service its platform provides for universities, which are looking to collaborate with industry and blue chip organisations and SMEs seeking research and expertise to grow and enhance their products and services. We look forward to supporting the team as the company continues to grow and scale.”