Venture Capital Firm To Invest In Commercialisation Of IP At NZ University

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

21 September 2007

It was announced on Thursday that venture capital company, Endeavour Capital is committing $10 million for investment in the commercialisation of intellectual property developed at New Zealand's University of Canterbury, through an arrangement with the University’s commercial arm, Canterprise.

Under the arrangement, Endeavour Capital will set aside $10 million to what will be known as the University of Canterbury Dedicated Fund (UCDF). It represents the largest investment of its type in New Zealand, and will give Endeavour first rights to take intellectual property developed at the University to the marketplace.

Endeavour Capital and Canterprise have jointly invested in new ventures previously. Last year, Endeavour i-Cap and Ngai Tahu Equities entered into an agreement with Canterprise to take hand-held technology capable of detecting anthrax spores and other bacterial spores within minutes to the international marketplace.

Canterprise CEO Dr John Chang says that and another investment planned for later this year will raise Endeavour’s venture capital investment in UC projects in 2006 and 2007 to nearly $4 million.

UC Vice Chancellor, Professor Roy Sharp has welcomed the creation of the University of Canterbury Dedicated Fund, explaining that the task of transforming an idea into a commercial product can be fraught with difficulty, particularly in relation to funding.

“This arrangement will see Endeavour bridging that funding gap with projects that meet its investment criteria. We are very grateful for this huge vote of confidence in the intellectual property developed here and the work done by Canterprise."

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