PPG.L Regulatory News (PPG)

25 Sep 2007 07:00

Ipso Ventures PLC25 September 2007 FIRST LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY SPIN OUT IPSO Ventures plc, the IP commercialisation specialist, is pleased to announcethat its wholly owned subsidiary Ipso Management Limited ("IPSO") has createdand invested in its first spin out company, Axilica Limited ("Axilica" or the"Company"), under its Framework Agreement with Loughborough University. Axilica has developed an electronic design automation ("EDA") software programmewhich simplifies and speeds up the process of designing semiconductor chips. TheAxilica product is a visual design language front end for the hardware designprocess that allows designs to be represented in the form of Unified ModellingLanguage ("UML"). This results in a more efficient and automated flow processfrom specification capture to hardware design language. The programme acceptsdiagrammatic input and automates the subsequent design process, providing: * Faster design flow* Lower design cost* Quicker time to market IPSO is leading an investment round of up to £500,000 into Axilica, which hasbeen spun-out from Loughborough University's Electrical and ElectronicEngineering Department. The Company has also received co-investment of £25,000from the Lachesis Fund, the University Challenge Fund for the East Midlands. The demand driven by the continuing need to upgrade and enhance consumerproducts and their features is increasing. Bringing new computer chips to marketis time consuming and requires substantial expertise. Axilica's EDA softwareproduct is designed to address this demand. It will not only speed up theprocess, but will allow it to be carried out with little or no knowledge offront-end hardware design. The reduced development cost and timescales willenable chip design companies to reap the benefits of increased profit marginsand faster times to market for their products. Simon Hunt, Executive Chairman of IPSO, said: "We are delighted to have createdour first spin-out company under our agreement with Loughborough. The quality ofthe team behind Axilica is very impressive and the Company is clearly addressingthe market's growing need for quicker, cheaper chip design. We are also verypleased to have co-invested with Lachesis." Peter Winter, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise), Loughborough University, added:"We are really excited about this deal, which we believe will be an excellentdemonstration of how university technology combined with the right fundingpartners can move technology from the laboratory to the market place. It is ourfirst deal with IPSO in what we hope will be a long and fruitful relationship.It also includes the Lachesis fund with which the University, along with fourother east midlands universities, has a long standing relationship." Further information, please contact: Ipso Ventures plc: Tel: 020 7812 6042Simon Hunt, Chairman simon@ipsoventures.comNick Rodgers, Chief Executive nick@ipsoventures.com www.ipsoventures.com Ambrian Partners Limited Tel: 020 7776 6421Tim Goodman tim.goodman@ambrian.com Rawlings Financial PR Limited Tel: 01756 770 376Catriona Valentine catriona@rawlingsfinancial.co.uk www.rawlingsfinancial.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange