Parkwalk Advisors, the UK’s most active investor in university spinouts, has launched its third Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund, which will invest in science and deep tech businesses from UK universities.
First launched in January 2021, Parkwalk’s Knowledge Intensive Funds have raised over £45 million to date. The third fund aims to raise a further £15 million for high-growth, knowledge-intensive companies whilst providing tax benefits to investors as an HMRC-approved Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) fund.
Knowledge Intensive EIS Funds have the advantage of providing investors with tax relief at a pre-determined date, and with only one tax certificate, they offer a reduced administrative burden. The fund will target innovative deep tech and science companies spun out from some of the UK’s leading universities.
Parkwalk’s previous funds have backed companies such as clean energy technology provider Bramble Energy, semiconductor chip design company Accelercomm, which recently secured £21.5 million in its Series B funding round, and veterinary biopharmaceutical company PetMedix, which exited for a multiple return earlier this year in one of the first successful exits for a Knowledge Intensive EIS fund.
This latest funding round aims to build on the success of Parkwalk’s previous two Knowledge Intensive Funds, both of which reached capacity ahead of their close date.
Moray Wright, chief executive at Parkwalk, said: “Parkwalk has led the way in deploying tax-efficient investment to nurture and grow cutting-edge UK companies.
“We’re incredibly proud to launch our latest Knowledge Intensive Fund, the third since 2021, as a continuation of our commitment to supporting our fast-growing science and deep tech sectors.
“The fund will sit alongside our evergreen Parkwalk Opportunities EIS Fund and will give our investors a simpler way to invest in EIS and access to our deal flow network. Much like a VCT, the Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund provides only one tax certificate to investors.
“Having surpassed our fundraising target in our two previous funds ahead of schedule, and with both funds now fully allocated, we look forward to building on this success by targeting even more investment into high-growth businesses spun out of the UK’s world-leading universities.”
With £500 million of assets under management, Parkwalk has invested in over 160 companies across its Parkwalk Opportunities and Knowledge Intensive EIS Funds, as well as the award-winning enterprise and innovation funds Parkwalk manages for the University of Oxford, amongst others.
Parkwalk has been the largest single EIS fundraise for four out of the five last tax years and was the first major EIS fund manager to launch a Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund in 2021.
The Enterprise Investment Scheme is a government-backed scheme which has provided tax relief to investors in spinouts and start-ups for 30 years. Through this scheme, Parkwalk has invested in numerous companies, which have secured over £2.5 billion in investment and generated over 5,000 skilled jobs.
