On-campus VC firm Campus Capital partners with Lancaster University
by Startacus Admin
Lancaster University has signed a partnership with venture capital firm, Campus Capital, to bring investment to the region and further strengthen Lancashire’s startup ecosystem.
Campus Capital is an external-facing, UK based on-campus VC (Venture Capital) firm and builds early stage, growth focused investment funds for some of the country’s leading universities.
Campus Capital will aim to invest between £50k-200k in early-stage, high-growth potential companies, both on and off campus. All companies within the Lancashire region will be eligible to pitch, not just those run by students, graduates and staff.
These funds are uniquely part-run by active students with the guidance and supervision of the Campus Capital board. Its unique structure enables it to be part of the fabric of each university and to nurture entrepreneurial talent before making any investment. University partnerships include The University of Sheffield, University of Manchester and now Lancaster University.
Michael Howe, founding partner of Campus Capital says the firm has always had an external focus, receiving the majority of pitches from companies that have no link to 
their partner universities.
He said: “There are a lot of investable companies already out there in the region so this isn’t about helping to create new startups. Our focus is on making sure these existing startups who are already doing great things get the investment they need to scale. Our connection with world-renowned universities such as Lancaster makes us particularly well-placed to support companies within the science and technology sectors.”
The on-campus element of Campus Capital is an experiential learning programme that involves teams of Student Venture Capitalists part-running some of the early aspects of the fund pipeline. Once trained, these Student VCs make many of the early investment decisions and gain valuable experience in assessing and analysing a company’s investment-readiness. They receive ongoing mentoring from Campus Capital’s partners and its wider support network of seasoned investors.
Jon Powell, Head of Enterprise and Innovation Services said:
“We are delighted to join forces with Campus Capital and build on our fantastic links with regional businesses by bringing much needed investment into the Lancashire economy. Lancaster University has a pivotal role to play in supporting innovation. We want to develop employable graduates and the graduate employers of tomorrow as well as supporting businesses through consultancy, joint research and co-location. Now we can support direct investment into those businesses with growth potential.”
This new partnership should shine even more of a spotlight on the entrepreneurial activity taking place in Lancashire, and increase opportunities for those companies to collaborate with the university, and stay and grow in the region.
Campus Capital will open to Lancashire-based startups in the New Year, although companies who are considering fundraising within the next six months are encouraged to get in touch sooner.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
The online platform which “connects illustration professionals with the planet's best publishers, designers and Art Directors”.
Pukket is aiming to create word of mouth on a large scale, by putting a usable, redeemable value on people’s social media impact when they help to spread word of a brand.
Cracked It, is a social enterprise staffed by young ex-offenders and at-risk youths, teaching them marketable phone repair skills and providing the means and opportunity to make money.
Seedrs’ AutoInvest will allow investors to customise investment criteria from industry sector, stage of business and tax relief eligibility to automatically invest in equity crowdfunding campaigns.
Local SEO can become, one of, if not the most effective method of marketing your local business. Here's some handy tips care of Digital Next.
Enhance convenience and efficiency by giving your home a brain, care of Manchester-based startup Wondrwall, a smart home intelligence system that learns from your behaviour.
How do you make sure your employer brand knocks your competitors out of the park to attract talent to your startup? Dee Murphy, Organisational Psychologist & Head of Employer Branding at Jobbio has this to offer...
The innovative platform which is on a mission to “teach kids how to code, bot by bot.”
These things matter - the most essential security advice for small business owners...
Into running? This startup offering SMART insoles & real-time coaching is for you...
Published on: 18th October 2017
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Trezeo looks to the crowd to target full UK launch 27th Jun 2018 Trezeo, a fintech startup focused on delivering financial stability to the self-employed, targets fully launching its income smoothing business account product in the UK.
- CliniShift awarded upSTART startup pitch title at Digital DNA 2018 21st Jun 2018 CliniShift wins the upSTART startup pitch title at Digital DNA for 2018, battling off against 24 other disruptive UK, NI and Irish startups.
- Launchpad, the award-winning incubator/accelerator building high tech startups in Cornwall 21st Jun 2018 Launchpad, an innovative, post-graduate incubation & acceleration programme developed by Falmouth University that aims to create new digital businesses to meet identified market demand in just 12 months.
- Lloyd's Lab begins global search for tech talent 21st Jun 2018 Over ten weeks, tech startups will be given the unique opportunity to work with Lloyd’s market experts to shape the next big innovation.
