IP Group PLC recently held a Deeptech Investor update, where Dr. Mark Reilly and Dr. Lee Thornton discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by the global growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The company was joined by James Spall, Co-founder of Lumai, and Sebastjan Cizel, ML Lead of Deep Render, both portfolio companies. Apollo Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company in IP Group's portfolio, announced the closing of a $226.5 million Series C financing round, bringing its total funding to over $400 million. The funds will be used to advance pipeline programs and support drug discovery and development activities. IP Group's deeptech team has been investing in companies like Ultraleap and WaveOptics for nearly a decade, and they recently highlighted the sale of WaveOptics to Snap Inc for over $500 million, recording an IRR of approximately 54% for the Group. Dr. Lee Thornton also shared potential solutions for the challenges posed by the development and use of AI in a separate insight piece.
Parkwalk Advisors, IP Group's specialist EIS fund manager, released its annual report on the state of the UK spinout sector. IP Group and Parkwalk together represent the leading investor in spin-outs in the UK. Deep Render, a deeptech portfolio company, won the 2023 Intel Startup Innovator Award at Intel Ignite. Hysata was awarded Startup of the Year at the 2023 Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards. Several IP Group portfolio companies, including Oxa, Garrison, Quantum Motion, and Lumai, were shortlisted for awards at the UK Tech Awards 2023. Edison's Dan Ridsdale interviewed IP Group's CEO, Greg Smith, discussing the company's performance, portfolio, and position in AI. Two IP Group portfolio companies, Featurespace and Oxa, were highlighted in Forbes as two of the five UK-based AI companies to watch out for in 2024. IP Group will be hosting a webinar on November 16th, titled "ESG Forward - Our approach to impact," where they will discuss their approach to ESG and impact with special guest Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School.