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New report by Lord Wei calls on investors and governments to support impactful investing

New report by Lord Wei calls on investors and governments to support impactful investing

Lord Wei of Shoreditch, Future Planet Capital Advisory Board Member

Many of the challenges we face require levels of innovation that only impact investing can foster and provide. To keep taxes low and come through the ongoing energy crisis, we need breakthroughs in tackling climate change. To ride through the current and any future pandemic, we need to future proof and decentralise our healthcare system through technology. To prepare for a huge shift in our labour force, for automation and its impact on skills requirements, and for supply chain disruption – we need new technology to enable training and education.

Lord Nat Wei of Shoreditch, Future Planet Capital Advisory Board Member

“The Wei Forward Report, written by Lord Wei of Shoreditch, the social entrepreneur and Conservative peer, and commissioned by Future Planet Capital, the international impact investment group, sets out how venture capital can provide the solution to harnessing university-originated innovation, enabling a next generation of entrepreneurs to supercharge efforts to solve the biggest problems like climate change, health, educations, and security issues, whilst still delivering profits for investors.

Backing innovative solutions to solve pressing issues does however require collective action, the report calls for a concerted effort to be made by all stakeholders to unlock venture’s potential and proposes a series of policy measures, including:

  • Governments must play a larger role as a procurer of innovation and encourage impactful venture investing with green and impact-oriented tax breaks, rewarding the next generation of young savers to back impactful investing

  • Pensions industry regulators should take a more balanced risk approach and favour impactful investing. To not do so, given the societal and planetary risks we face, is a risk itself; one that the regulatory system should be accountable for, alongside protecting the immediate financial returns and assets of members.

  • Society and the general consumer must play a more active role in holding legislative, ruling and regulatory bodies to account, using tools such as the Companies Act 2006, Section 172.

Lord Wei of Shoreditch, Member of the Future Planet Capital Advisory Board, commented: “We have come a long way in reversing the crises of our age, but to secure this progress for future generations requires us to go further; to not just talk green but act green. The technologies needed to achieve Net Zero simply do not exist today, nor do the tools to protect us against the next pandemic. To secure these, there needs to be a dramatic increase in the flow of capital to the world’s best scientists and engineers.”

“While much of the responsibility for expanding impact investing rests with VC investors and founders, policy makers, regulators, LPs, pension funds and consumers must all play a critical role in bringing impact to mainstream adoption must be recognised and harnessed. Through this report, I hope to kickstart a practical conversation as to how we can all endeavour to deliver positive change.”

Douglas Hansen-Luke, Chair of Future Planet Capital, added: “We at Future Planet Capital have always believed in the power of profit and purpose; creating channels for large scale investment to back the best brains tackling the biggest global issues. There is now a general recognition that science and centres of innovation have a fundamental role in addressing global challenges and that the government and private sectors can materially accelerate and scale the impact of their work. We grew out of that desire to make difference, and I look forward to working with many likeminded stakeholders to help put this report’s ideas into practice.”

Future Planet invests in Vaccitech's $168M Series B

London, UK – 17th March 2021: Future Planet Capital has invested in a $168m Series B financing announced today by Vaccitech Ltd.  Future Planet joins other leading investors including M&G Investment Management, Tencent, Gilead Sciences, Monaco Constitutional Reserve Fund and fellow existing investor, Oxford Sciences Innovation. As part of the Series B financing, $43 million in convertible loan notes previously issued by Vaccitech will convert into Series B shares, resulting in total gross proceeds to Vaccitech of $168 million before expenses.

Douglas Hansen-Luke Founder & EXec Chair Future Planet Capital

Douglas Hansen-Luke Founder & EXec Chair

Future Planet Capital

Douglas Hansen-Luke, Executive Chairman of Future Planet Capital, explained:

"Our decision to support Vaccitech last year, before the results of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca trials were known, has been vindicated by the vaccine’s approval for emergency use by national and international regulators. The success of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has increased our confidence in Vaccitech’s immunotherapy platform and our continuing support is signalled by our investment today.”

Bill Enright, CEOVaccitech

Bill Enright, CEO

Vaccitech

Bill Enright, CEO of Vaccitech, said:

“We expect this financing to enable us to reach key value inflection points for our lead programs. We now look forward to advancing key programs towards generating proof-of-concept data in indications with significant need of effective new treatments.”

Ed Phillips, Deal Lead Future Planet Capital

Ed Phillips, Deal Lead

Future Planet Capital

Ed Phillips, Head of Origination at Future Planet Capital, concluded:

“This is a concrete example of our vision in action – financing the best minds to address global challenges. We look forward to working with other entrepreneurs and businesses dedicated to solving global challenges in the future.”

Vaccitech is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel immunotherapeutics and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases and cancer; in 2020 it co-invented a COVID-19 vaccine candidate with the University of Oxford, AZD1222, which is known as the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca.

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For further information, please contact;

Future Planet Capital: Ed Philips, Head of Origination: e.phillips@futureplanetcapital.com

Sciad Communications: Richard Anderson: richard@sciad.com, Emma Pickup: emma@sciad.com

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Future Planet Capital announces Partnership with Owl Ventures

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Future Planet Capital, the world’s first global platform to invest in leading universities and the “centres of innovation” that surround them, announces a limited partnership investment in Owl Ventures, a world-leading venture capital fund that invests in education technology companies. Owl Ventures will be Future Planet Capital’s strategic partner in the education sector.

Based in San Francisco and founded in 2014, Owl Ventures closed its $185m second fund in October 2017. Owl Ventures has invested in numerous fast growing transformative companies such as Accelerate Learning, a comprehensive digital PreK-12 STEM curriculum; Lingo Live, a language and communications programme; Quizlet, one of the largest educational platforms in the world; and RaiseMe, an online scholarship platform. 

Future Planet Capital announces participation in funding for Oxford Science Innvoation.

Future Planet Capital is pleased to announce its participation in the third close of funding for Oxford Sciences Innovation plc alongside some of Asia's largest companies and investors.

OSI, which was formed in May 2015, has raised an additional £230m from new and existing investors. With nearly £600m now available to invest in spin-outs from Oxford’s science departments, OSI is believed to be the world’s largest university innovation investor.