The AIB Seed Capital Fund, co-managed by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital, has completed an €500,000 equity investment in a new Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) spin-out, SurgaColl Technologies Limited, a tissue regeneration company based in the Rubicon Centre in the Cork Institute of Technology.

SurgaColl Technologies is a venture capital backed start-up company established in 2010 to commercialise a portfolio of implantable orthopaedic products developed by Professor Fergal O'Brien's Tissue Engineering Research Group at RCSI. The products are highly innovative and formulated, using naturally derived materials, for the regeneration of human tissue, including bone and cartilage.

The Tissue Engineering Research Group at RCSI is engaged in ground breaking research, in close collaboration with clinicians, with the objective of translating advances in medical science into patient treatments. The work of this group has been supported by funding from Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.

The total investment in the company is in excess of €2 million from a funding syndicate including AIB Seed Capital Fund, Harmac Medical Products, Enterprise Ireland and a number of private investors in the UK, France and Singapore. The multi-million euro investment coincides with the licensing by SurgaColl Technologies of breakthrough technologies from RCSI for the regeneration of human tissue.

Eric Reed, a Partner in Enterprise Equity, said: "Enterprise Equity is delighted to have invested in this breakthrough medical technology which is at the cutting-edge of tissue regeneration development. SurgaColl Technologies and the Tissue Engineering Research Group at RCSI have developed highly innovative products which can be successfully launched to the global orthopaedics market."

Dan Philpott, CEO and co-founder of SurgaColl Technologies, commented, "This investment reflects the confidence of our investors in the company and in its collagen based platform technology. The funding will enable the company to launch its first product, HydroxyColl - an osteoinductive bone graft substitute, in the global orthopaedics market and to complete pre-clinical trials of a very promising cartilage regeneration product, ChondroColl."

Dr Gearóid Tuohy, Director of the RCSI Technology Transfer Office, commented, "The College is delighted to have completed the execution of intellectual property license agreements and the setup of a new Irish technology company, Surgacoll Technologies Ltd. The investment by Irish and international investors will enable the SurgaColl team to deliver a number of key objectives in advancing the technologies to market. These achievements represent significant milestones for the College and its inventors and further underscore RCSI's commitment and focus on the development of its research outputs for the benefit of patients, clinical care and industry. We look forward to continuing these successes with a range of RCSI technologies undergoing active commercialisation."

John O' Dea, Enterprise Ireland Manager High Potential Start-ups, Industrial, added, "For the past six years, Enterprise Ireland has been supporting the development of this highly innovative technology in RCSI. We are delighted that this has culminated in SurgaColl, which is a very promising academic spin-out. The potential prize for the company is enormous and holds out the potential for significantly improved solutions for a range of treatments in a multi-billion market."