A fund which was established to help commercialise new technologies from universities in the East Midlands has received a £2m boost from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

As a result of this, the Lachesis Fund has now received total investment of £10m since it was established in 2002 under the Government's University Challenge initiative.

With initial Government investment of £3m, Lachesis was set up as a venture capital seed fund in response to a need for funding for new technologies being developed by the five main research universities in the East Midlands - De Montfort, Loughborough, Leicester, Nottingham and Nottingham Trent - who each contributed £200k to the fund. A further £650k was also raised from the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The East Midlands Development Agency(emda) invested £3m in 2004, and £350k was secured through ERDF, from the previous Objective 2 programme in 2005. However, Lachesis has proven to be so effective, that with emda's support, the Fund has successfully bid for an additional £2m from the ERDF to further its work.

Lachesis is widely regarded as one of the best examples of collaboration between universities in the East Midlands and is now being widened to include the universities of Derby, Lincoln and Northampton, who are joining as Associate Members. This will help to create additional high growth technology and knowledge-based businesses and jobs in the region.

To date the fund has invested over £6 million in 54 projects, with nine of the 'spin-out' companies that have received funding going on to raise a further £22 million from other investors, creating over 30 jobs in the process.

Speaking about the Lachesis fund, Mike Carr, emda's Executive Director of Business Services, said: "Lachesis is an invaluable fund. It has provided a number of university-founded, high-tech, innovative businesses with the investment that they have needed to leverage major investment to develop and grow. I am confident that a number of these businesses will become significant employers, creating new jobs and wealth in the region."

Professor Phill Dickens, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Enterprise) at Loughborough University, commented: "Lachesis is a great enabler to commercialise the wealth of university research that is being undertaken within the East Midlands. We are very grateful to emda and the European Regional Development Fund for its support."

The fund has been managed since its creation by SPARK Venture Management Ltd, a leading early stage venture capital manager. SPARK was recently re-appointed as manager following a competitive tender process. 

Dr Jonathan Gee, Investment Director at SPARK said: "With 8 revenue generating investments in our portfolio of 20 companies, Lachesis has made very good progress. The new investment from ERDF will enable the Lachesis fund to continue its important work in the region."

For more details about Lachesis and other equity funds, visit www.emda.org.uk/funding