Mercia CEO Mark Payton said: “Following our recent acquisition of Enterprise Ventures, the partnership with Sheffield Hallam University will continue to build our presence in the north of England alongside York, Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores universities.

“These new Scottish university partnerships via our office in Edinburgh, alongside our existing partners of Abertay and Strathclyde Universities reflect our strengthening presence in one of our target regions as we seek to become the go-to provider of finance for innovative Scottish companies.

“Providing approximately a third of all our investment activity, these additional partnerships support our continued ability to work with universities to identify investment opportunities.”

Mercia will benefit from a network of 18 university partners, which reflects the group’s regional presence in the Midlands, the north of England and Scotland, in line with its strategy to be the ‘go-to’ finance provider for high growth, innovative businesses in these regions.

These collaborative university partnerships provide the group with access to an excellent flow of spin-out and early stage investment opportunities.

Together with the professional network of Mercia’s technology transfer team, the university partnerships provide Mercia with a compelling ability to source new investments.

This is central to Mercia’s strategy to create shareholder value by nurturing and providing funding continuity to innovative businesses from an early stage via its third party funds through to maturity via its own balance sheet cash resources.