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 into R&D, innovation and science to the Midlands region.

The campaign will see universities across the Midlands joining forces to create a more ambitious offer to global investors and will 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), which was attended by nearly 13,000 investors, delegates and developers and has been enabled by an award of £1.5 million from the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), to support the campaign over the next two years, which has been matched by universities and regional partners.

The campaigners will work closely with Midlands Mindforge, an independent patient capital investment company, established by the eight research intensive universities in the Midlands Innovation partnership. Midlands Mindforge aims to deploy £250m to “invest with impact”, founding and scaling transformational science backed companies in sectors such as Clean Technologies, AI & Computational Science, Life Sciences & Health Tech. 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-on from the ‘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 Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The programme helped lay the groundwork for the campaign by demonstrating the enormous potential universities have and how they can play a much greater role in driving overseas trade and investment into UK regional R&D.

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

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

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

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