Midlands universities launch £3m campaign to attract global R&D investment

Midlands Innovation and the Midlands Engine Partnership have launched an international campaign to attract inward investment in research and development, innovation and science to the Midlands region.

The campaign will see Midlands universities join forces to create a more ambitious proposition for global investors and showcase sectors where the region has world-renowned strengths in research and innovation.

It was launched at the UK Real Estate, Infrastructure and Investment Forum (UKREIIF), attended by almost 13,000 investors, delegates and developers, and enabled by a £1.5m award from the Fund for international science partnerships (ISPF) in the UK. to support the campaign over the next two years, which was matched by universities and regional partners.

The campaigners will work closely with Midlands Mindforge, an independent patient capital investment company set up by the eight research-intensive universities as part of the Midlands Innovation Partnership. Midlands Mindforge aims to deploy £250m to ‘impact invest’, the start-up and scale-up of transformational science-backed companies in sectors such as Clean Technologies, AI and Computational Science, Life Sciences and Health Technology. It will create highly skilled jobs in the Midlands and support the UK’s ambition to become a science and technology superpower.

The award follows from ‘Universities as drivers of trade and investment” Pilot, led by Midlands Innovation, Midlands Engine Partnership and Midlands Enterprise Universities, with support from the Department for Housing, Housing and Communities. The program helped lay the groundwork for the campaign, demonstrating the enormous potential that universities have and how they can play a much bigger role in boosting trade and overseas investment in UK regional research and development.

Midlands Engine Partnership Chairman Sir John Peace, said: “This funding will give us a platform to showcase the unique strengths of the Midlands and position our region on the global investment map. This program is a perfect example of how the power of the partnership between the Midlands Engine and our fantastic universities is helping to extend the global reach of our region.”

David Coleman, CEO of University of Birmingham Enterprise, said: “While the Midlands has plenty of high growth opportunities for global investors, if we are to attract these investors effectively, stakeholders need to work together across the region. This strong coalition is the right approach to ensure we create and communicate our compelling offer.”

The campaign is also supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the UK Global Science and Innovation Network (SIN), which is jointly funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Office for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO).

The campaign landing page is available here and the Midlands Innovation press release can be viewed here.