RCA closes first design & innovation investment fund

The UK Royal College of Art (Home) (RCA) has closed the RCA Design & Innovation S/EIS Investment Fund I.

Launched to back the very best early-stage companies founded by RCA graduates and staff, the Fund offers investors access to a diverse pipeline of design-led, multi-sector investments addressing scalable markets that are open for innovation, while also benefiting from tax reliefs under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).

This Fund is part of the College’s long-term strategy of ensuring that the best talent from the RCA can realise innovative commercial ideas and transform the world in a positive way.

The RCA is among the top 10 universities in the UK for the number of spinouts created and the number of equity deals secured by its spinouts.

This Fund builds on the success of the RCA’s incubator, InnovationRCA, in supporting companies founded by RCA graduates. InnovationRCA has backed over 90 design-led ventures, which have gone on to raise more than £150 million from other investors.

Around 40 per cent of InnovationRCA’s portfolio consists of impact-for-profit companies, 60 per cent are patent-based, and in the past five years, 51 per cent have been women-led. Following its first close, the Fund has invested in 10 companies, driving innovation across multiple sectors, including medtech and cleantech.

The companies include:

• BlueNose;  a London-based startup developing AI-driven aerodynamic retrofits on cargo ships to reduce air-drag, designed to significantly reduce fuel consumption, lower emissions, and ensure regulatory compliance without disrupting operations.
• Ponda: a Bristol-based biomaterials company developing technologies to transform wetland plants grown in regenerated peatlands into next-generation textiles for the fashion industry. 
• Revive Innovations +: a MedTech spin-out transforming emergency medicine and defence medical response with its patented, miniaturised auto-injector platform. 

President and Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art, Professor Christoph Lindner, said: 

“This important milestone in the life of this fund is a testament to the strength of the talent pipeline emerging from the Royal College of Art.”

Dr Nadia Danhash, Director, InnovationRCA, said: 

“We are thrilled to welcome our investors into the Fund. Their participation recognises the UK as a strong source of investable and compelling design-led companies.

We expect this to be the first of a series of funds that will maximise the potential of UK createch and build an even stronger UK Creative Industries sector.”