Universities of technology start €75m investment fund

Dutch universities Eindhoven, Enschede and Wageningen are each putting €1.5 million (US$1.6 million) into a €75 million investment fund, Innovation Industries, which will help finance projects stemming from their own R&D programmes, reports Dutch News.

The aim is to provide funding averaging €5 million to 20 companies operating in new technologies in the agricultural, healthcare and IT sectors.

Founder and investor Harm de Vries told the Financieele Dagblad the fund is needed because the gulf between university spin offs and the market is too wide. Most Dutch institutes of higher learning have links with outside investors, but this is the first time the universities of technology have joined together directly in such a move.
Full report on the Dutch News site