Investers
UU Invest AB is an early-stage investor, and we are happy to collaborate with other investors and co-financiers who, like us, invest in research with high innovation and growth potential. Our commitment is long-term and, in most cases, extends from company formation and 5–15 years onward. Together with the research team, we lay the foundation for the company through startup capital, due diligence, knowledge, and networking. And with every investment we make, the Uppsala University brand follows as an additional mark of quality.
INVESTMENTS
(NUMBER OF COMPANIES)
117
INVESTET CAPITAL
(MSEK)
124
PORTFOLIO COMPANIES
(NUMBER OF COMPANIES)
50
EQUITY
(MSEK)
127
UU Invest invests at an early stage with the intention of selling its holding once the company has validated its technology and market and attracted interest from other investors or when industrial companies wish to acquire the business. Alternatively, UU Invest sells its holding if the company is listed on a trading venue. Historically, 12 companies in the portfolio have carried out an initial public offering (IPO). Today, these companies have a combined value of approximately SEK 38 billion.
Our investment process
The research ideas presented to us undergo several reviews before we assess whether there are strong prospects for company development.
By the time we meet the researchers, they have often already worked with Uppsala University’s advisory body, UU Innovation. With the support of experienced business and patent advisors, they have examined potential challenges and opportunities, while also receiving assistance with market and verification studies.
Through our subsidiary, Projekt AB, the ideas can also undergo a pre-incubation phase. There, we test and analyze the proposed offering’s opportunities and obstacles in the market before a company is potentially formed.
The foundation for successful business
SEED CAPITAL
UU Invest AB is an early-stage investor offering pre-seed and seed capital, enabling researchers and entrepreneurs to bring research forward into society. With our early support, we help companies build the right business model, form a team with key expertise, and validate their idea with the market.
EXPERTISE
UU Invest AB has extensive experience in evaluating business ideas and contributing expertise where we see ideas and research with the potential to be developed for the benefit of society. We always plan for long-term ownership and are happy to collaborate with other investors.
LONG TERM COMMITMENT
We invest with a long-term perspective to give companies the time to grow steadily, develop their business, and build teams that can advance specialized expertise and technology. Our commitment to the companies extends from the first investment and 5–15 years onward.
BROAD NETWORK
UU Invest AB connects and collaborates with other investor networks and investment companies that, like us, are focused on contributing to advancing research and developing new sustainable solutions, technologies, and methods.
THE ROAD TO US USUALLY GOES THROUGH UU INNOVATION – UPPSALA UNIVERSITY’S ADVISORY BODY
Through UU Innovation’s business and patent advisors, your research can undergo analyses and verification studies that identify opportunities as well as potential challenges. This collaboration is valuable to us, as it paves the way for the next phases of a potential company formation.
Did you know that all our profits are reinvested into other research projects? In this way, your success helps more researchers develop their ideas.
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UU Invest’s role is to help ensure that the first building blocks are put in place, to secure patents, and to provide the support needed to get started. The fact that the university’s holding company can contribute with know-how and invest early in research-based companies sends an important signal to other stakeholders and investors.
Anders Hagfeldt
Principal, Uppsala university
News
Visa:
Development is progressing rapidly at the new company Duck Technologies. If everything goes according to plan, the hope is that the company’s first product will be ready for the market within two years. What remains is to scale up and package a new opportunity to save energy by reducing heat intake through, among other things, windows in buildings and cars.
Mesenkia Therapeutics, backed by UU Invest, is developing a groundbreaking treatment for glioblastoma, the most aggressive brain cancer. The startup is preparing clinical trials to create a drug aimed at extending patients’ lives.
SoundSim360, developed by Professor Ken Mattsson and Dr. Gustav Eriksson, is an advanced sound simulation tool for precise sound level predictions that handles complex acoustics, including low-frequency sounds for wind turbines, arenas, and home theater systems.
UU Invest hosts your project so that you can establish necessary agreements with collaborative partners, hire key personnel to investigate or develop the concept, and also assist ‘hands on’ in negotiations and strategic work.
Ida-Maria Sintorn, along with her colleagues in the SimSearch project, is developing new technology for image processing of microscopic images. The focus is to make it easier, faster, and safer for researchers to extract relevant information from large amounts of data while retaining control over their own data.
Oscar Verho and his research network are focused on creating more efficient ways to produce fuels from water. The path involves advanced interdisciplinary development and a sustainable, efficient electrode with the potential to make green hydrogen production more cost-effective.
PapersHive is one of UU Invest’s 55 portfolio companies. With an AI-based search technology, the company collects information from all medical databases in one place. This saves both time and money for pharmaceutical companies, CROs and medical technology companies.
Applications for VentureChallenge 2023 are now closed. A new call for applications will open again in the first quarter of 2024.
Up to 500,000 SEK for your research-based business idea. UU Invest, in collaboration with UU Innovation, is now conducting a call for start-up capital of up to 500,000 SEK for your research-based business idea.
Meet Gunilla Lundmark, CEO of UU Invest, and Malin Graffner Nordberg, Head of UU Innovation. With different roles and expertise, they work towards the same overall goal – to contribute to Uppsala University’s efforts to take research forward and utilise knowledge in society.
Ulf Landegren och hans forskningsgrupp ligger bakom banbrytande forskning som lett till nya innovationer som framgångsrikt förvaltats och utvecklats i en rad olika bolag. Rarity Bioscience med vd Linus Bosaeus är ett av de senaste i raden.