LU Ventures

For projects where we see a good match, we draw up a Business Track agreement. This means that you, as a researcher, together with a project team from LU Ventures and LU Innovation, agree that we want to explore and develop the potential for commercializing the research.

The project will then receive active assistance in, among other things:

• Covering IP costs (and negotiating with other universities' TTOs if necessary)
• Setting up a project plan and milestones
• Verifying the technical and market potential
• Financing verification activities
• Understanding and managing the risks in the project (e.g., understanding the regulatory journey)
• Planning for the team and board: What roles do the researchers in the team want to take on? Who else do we need to bring along on the journey?

Once we have jointly determined that we have what we need in place to build and finance the company, we start the company. During this period, we typically help with the following:

• Recruiting industry experts to the board
• Recruiting team members such as a CEO and CTO, if needed
• Ensuring that hygiene factors in legal, financial, communication, and governance are in place
• Contributing early investment to cover costs and activities to prepare the company to raise capital

Research-based innovations often require external capital to reach the market. We have extensive experience managing early capitalization rounds and understand which checks and balances are essential. Together, we will customize a financing strategy for your company to help ensure it is investable and appealing to investors. We will introduce you to our investor network and provide support throughout discussions, negotiations, and subsequent agreements. Our role is crucial during the initial rounds of financing; once stronger investors are onboard and capital is secured, we typically leave our board position but remain involved. We do not actively seek exit opportunities—instead, we remain committed and founder-friendly shareholders in your company.

We take pride in the many successful companies we have helped progress from conception to impact:

• +140 companies started together with +300 researchers
• SEK 14.2 billion has been invested in our companies
• The money we have invested in our companies has been multiplied 150 times by other investors

When you establish the company together with LU Ventures, we become minority shareholders.

This means that if we work together to ensure the company's success, LU Ventures can later sell the shares and invest in new research ideas. If the company is not successful, you as a researcher will not be obliged to repay the money we have invested. Not all research ideas can be successful – what we can do, however, is create a platform to find out whether the research can reach the market and create value.

We recommend talking to other researchers who have been on a similar journey with us. Get in touch and we can put you in contact with them.