THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY FUND (CCF) TURNED 1 IN SEPTEMBER
The Campus Community Fund (CCF) underlines, accelerates and expands the unique power, opportunities and the impact of our partner Campus Groningen for the region, and it works! Campus Groningen keeps on growing. The Campus Community Fund exists 1 year in september 2021 and has a year full of investments and stimulations of growth over and done. In the past year, the CCF has contributed to more than €95 million in investments, mainly in business activities and collaboration projects. Carlo Ezinga, Director of Coöperatieve Rabobank: “The Campus Community Fund facilitates the growth of Campus Groningen by bringing high quality, innovative and oftentimes risky propositions in the context of the ecosystem. We are proud of the flying start of the first year and the ambitions for the coming years are big.”
Well sophisticated investments
The CCF invested in several types of projects the past year, in line with the investment strategy. For instance, €22.5 million has been invested in real estate and infrastructure. One example is the Clinical Research Unit. In collaboration with ICON, the UMCG will start a new clinical research unit to be able to conduct new research with patients at an early stage. This collaboration, which is unique in Europe, will make data and research results for new and existing medication available earlier.
“Whoever visits Campus Groningen nowadays will see how the available space is filled up rapidly with innovative solutions. Solutions coming from a really active and entrepreneurial campus community.” so says Edward van der Meer, director of Campus Groningen.
In addition, €20 million has been invested in the field of Facilities and Services, among other things in Innolab Chemistry & Engineering. Both open innovation labs with space for startups and R&D are realised in the Innovation centre Chemie & Engineering at Campus Groningen. To conclude, €52,5 million in total has been invested in Business activities in the form of start- and scale-up investments, Public Private Collaborations and working capital. The CCF stimulated among other things the growth of startups SG Papertronics, Ocean Grazer, QDI Systems and Dutchvolt. Also, the CCF has contributed to putting the ecosystem in diagnostics via the project Open Diagnostics on the map.
Sander Oosterhof, Business Development (NOM): “The Campus Community Fund is a really valuable addition to the resources Campus Groniungen has to grow in our opinion. By continuously combining forces in a clever way, the fund is able to operate decisively. Necessary investments can be realised very quickly and it has a big impact on the economy in the northern Netherlands.”
On the road to new propositions
The power of the Campus Community Fund is to make innovative, complex but also risky propositions from the ecosystem possible at Campus Groningen. This way, the Campus aspires to have an appropriate balance between private, public and shared facilities. A few public and shared facilities are still missing, and these facilities are not easy to finance. For example, think of the development of large scale startup-, catering industry- and culture concepts, for which the combination with things like living- and sport facilities is preferred. These multifunctional concepts are more challenging when it comes to financing, but the Campus Community Fund can play an important role and make connections wherever needed.
After this anniversary, the CCF looks confidently to the coming years and future investments, which will only further strengthen the ecosystem of Campus Groningen.
Source: Campus Groningen