London's UCL Technology Fund announces second fund with £100 million final target

University College London’s Technology Fund (UCLTF) has announced a first close of its second fund, with a £100 million final target. UCLTF is managed by AlbionVC and UCL Business.  A press release references an “immediate pipeline of opportunities” for Fund 2, ranging from preclinical or clinical projects in gene and cell therapies and drug discovery to developments within the UCL AI Centre and advanced materials. “We look forward to this fund investing in intellectual property arising from UCL’s world-class research, taking technologies all the way from proof of concept to commercialisation through licensing and company creation,” commented Dr. Celia Caulcott, UCL’s vice-provost of enterprise. The first UCLTF fund made 45 investments, 27 of which became spinout companies and licensed programmes that have supposedly raised follow-on funding exceeding £1 billion. The fund saw particular success with gene therapies, including two Nasdaq IPOs (Orchard Therapeutics and MeiraGTx) and a potential upcoming IPO with Freeline Therapeutics.

Photo: UCLTF team, working from home