Don't invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
- You could lose all the money you invest
- If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
- You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
- Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
- Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
- You won’t get your money back quickly
- Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
- The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
- If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
- A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.
- The value of your investment can be reduced
- The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
- These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.
| Sector: | University Spinouts |
|---|---|
| Target return: | Unspecified |
| Minimum investment: | £25,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 2025/26 |
| Next deadline: | 2 Apr 2026 (1pm) |
Important documents
| Sector: | University Spinouts |
|---|---|
| Target return: | Unspecified |
| Minimum investment: | £25,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 2025/26 |
| Next deadline: | 2 Apr 2026 (1pm) |
Important documents
Parkwalk Advisors (“Parkwalk”) is one of the UK's most active investors in university spinouts. It has strong ties to the UK’s leading universities, managing funds in conjunction with the tech-transfer departments of the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Bristol, as well as Imperial College. These partnerships could provide investors with unique access to the spinout sector.
The Parkwalk Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund is managed by the same team – and follows the same strategy – as the Opportunities EIS Fund, although it will invest in a larger portfolio of a minimum of 10 companies.
Parkwalk manages around £450 million across all its funds and benefits from being part of IP Group plc, a FTSE 250-listed asset manager focused on intellectual property commercialisation.
Across its EIS funds, Parkwalk has invested £496.3 million in 207 companies. Of this, £208.4 million has been realised with a remaining portfolio balance of £311.1 million (January 2026). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
This is the fifth ‘KI approved fund’ from Parkwalk. As it closes this tax year, investors should be able to obtain tax relief for 2025/26 and have the option to carry back to 2024/25 (tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances).
- Approved KI EIS fund
- Target portfolio size of at least 10 companies, deploying investors funds over 12 to 18 months
- Target return is unspecified with an estimated holding period of four to eight years, not guaranteed
- Minimum investment of £25,000
- Deadline: 2 April 2026
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not advice nor a research or personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. Investments are for the long term. They are high risk and illiquid and can fall as well as rise in value: you could lose all the money you invest.
The manager
Parkwalk Advisors is a specialist university spinout investor with around £450 million in assets under management. It was founded in 2009 and in 2017 was acquired by IP Group, a London-listed specialist IP commercialisation company with a market capitalisation of c.£500 million (February 2026) and net assets of £883.1 million (June 2025). IP Group also acquired Touchstone Innovations, a commercialisation company with close links to Imperial College and University College London.
The combined group gives Parkwalk a strong hand when accessing deal flow and negotiating terms, as well as providing a possible exit route for investors.
The investment team consists of eight investment professionals including founder Moray Wright and Alastair Kilgour. The team has experience across banking, fund management, start-ups, venture capital, and drug development.
Before your subscription is invested, the cash will be held by the custodian, Apex Unitas Limited. After investment, shares will be held by the nominee, MNL (Parkwalk) Nominees Limited.
Meet the managers
Neil Cameron and Susie Harris, Parkwalk Advisors – watch now
This interview is also available to listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Investment strategy
Parkwalk’s niche is UK university spinouts. It invests in technology or intellectual property developed within UK universities, helping commercialise academic research.
Parkwalk’s portfolio companies include spinouts from over 20 UK universities. Parkwalk also manages funds in conjunction with the technology transfer departments of the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Bristol as well as Imperial College London. Parkwalk typically co-invests alongside large investors, including Amadeus, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Invesco Perpetual, Oxford Sciences Innovation and Schroders.
Parkwalk generally first invests once a company’s technology has been proven, but products have yet to be sold, and well before commercialisation. A typical initial investment is £1 million to £1.5 million for a 15–20% stake in a business. Later investments may be £2 million to £10 million, usually as part of a larger funding round.
Companies will typically have deeply embedded IP and are given the freedom to operate. Parkwalk will usually seek experienced, relevant management with the skills necessary to commercialise the product.
Parkwalk may also invest in relatively later-stage companies, perhaps just before joining AIM.
While the fund's target return is unspecified, Parkwalk seeks companies it believes could potentially deliver five times the original investment – not guaranteed.
Portfolio
Each investor is expected to have a portfolio of at least 10 early-stage, EIS-qualifying, technology companies, with a mix of different technologies and stages of maturity (from Series A to Series C), although this is not guaranteed.
Since launch, Parkwalk has invested in 207 companies. The current portfolio is weighted towards Digital Health & MedTech, Life Sciences, and Hardware.
The four previous Parkwalk Knowledge Intensive Funds have invested in 29 companies to date (January 2026), all of which have also received investment from the Opportunities EIS Fund.
Sector breakdown by investment cost (%)
Source: Parkwalk, as at January 2026.
Below are portfolio company examples from previous iterations of the EIS fund. They are outlined to give a flavour of the types of companies you might expect but are unlikely to be part of a new investor's portfolio.
Spinout from the University of Oxford
Brainomix
Each year around 12 million people experience a stroke, making it one of the world’s leading causes of death and disability. Acting quickly in stroke care is essential, as every minute lost increases the risk of permanent damage.
Brainomix’s e-Stroke platform helps clinicians make critical, time-sensitive decisions. The system uses advanced AI algorithms to analyse CT scans in just 60 seconds, giving medical teams a detailed, real-time view on the extent of any brain damage.
The result is patients spending less time in hospital and better outcomes – studies show e-Stroke has helped triple the rate of patients achieving functional independence. This clinical success has helped the platform become trusted by more than 30 healthcare systems worldwide.
In March 2025, the company secured a £14 million Series C round co-led by health tech investors including Parkwalk, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) and Hostplus. To date, Parkwalk EIS Funds have invested £17.8 million in the business.
Spinout from the University of Leeds
Adsilico
Bringing a new medical device to market can take years – it’s a costly and lengthy process.
To address this, medical device developers are increasingly using “in silico trials”, where a device's safety and performance are assessed before human clinical trials through computational models and simulation.
Adsilico, which was spun out of the University of Leeds in 2022, has developed technology to facilitate this. Its ground-breaking technique combines multiple data sources and uses generative AI to create “virtual twins” of trial participants. The models can create specific virtual conditions or specific groups of people, including vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, who do not take part in real-life medical trials.
The company believes this will allow medical device manufacturers to accelerate R&D, reduce the need for animal experimentation, and augment costly human trials.
The Parkwalk Opportunities Fund invested £1.5 million in February 2024 as part of a £3.5 million funding round.
Spinout from the University of Cambridge (example of previous exit)
PetMedix
Following the sale of his antibody business to Sanofi for at least $1.1 billion, serial entrepreneur and scientist Allan Bradley began searching for his next venture. He quickly recognised a gap in the pet market and set about repurposing his technology.
PetMedix develops monoclonal antibodies (antibodies that are made in the lab) to treat conditions such as cancer or autoimmune diseases in animals. The challenge was to create a system capable of producing high-quality, species-specific antibodies – which the company achieved using genetically modified mice. However, while this technique is common in human medicine, PetMedix was the first group capable of making mature antibodies that were fully species specific.
Parkwalk first met the company in 2019 and supported it through two funding rounds, eventually becoming its largest shareholder. In August 2023, the company was acquired by Zoetis, the world’s leading animal health company. The exit delivered a return of 1.5x – 2.9x (depending on the investment tranche) and was Parkwalk’s first successful exit from its KI Funds.
Example of previous failure
Predictimmune
Predictimmune was a molecular diagnostics company, which developed a novel blood test to predict at an early stage the progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the risk of it turning into severe Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. It was spun out from the University of Cambridge and Parkwalk first invested in 2017.
Predictimmune suffered from Covid-related delays in its clinical trials for new diagnostic products and commercial progress for its existing products was slow, leading the company to scale-down its operations and impairing its ability to raise further funds.
The company began a solvent wind-down procedure and a liquidator was appointed in February 2024, with Parkwalk’s investments being written off.
Performance
Across its portfolio of 207 companies, Parkwalk EIS funds have in aggregate invested £496.3 million and realised £208.4 million with a remaining portfolio balance of £311.1 million (January 2026).
The first chart below shows the average performance of the total subscribed into the Parkwalk Opportunities Funds each in each full of the last 10 full tax years (or from when the current strategy was adopted if later). The second shows the performance of the previous Parkwalk Knowledge Intensive Funds.
The charts are based on the latest valuations provided by the manager, expressed on a £100 invested basis. Please note, individual investor portfolios’ performance will deviate from the average.
Performance per £100 invested per tax year
Performance of Parkwalk Knowledge Intensive EIS funds per £100 invested in each tax year
Source: Parkwalk Ventures, as at February 2026 and January 2026 respectively. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The chart shows realised returns (where share proceeds have been returned to investors as cash) and unrealised returns (where cash has not yet been returned and the value of the investments is based on the manager’s own valuation methodology). There is no ready market for unlisted shares. The figures shown are net of all fees and do not include any income tax relief or loss relief.
Risks – important
This, like all investments available through Wealth Club, is only for experienced investors happy to make their own investment decisions without advice.
EIS investments are high-risk and should only form part of a balanced portfolio. As must be expected with early-stage investments, some or even all of the companies in the portfolio could fail: the fewer the companies included in the portfolio, the higher the risk of loss if things don’t go to plan. You should not invest money you cannot afford to lose.
There is no ready market for unlisted EIS shares: they are illiquid and hard to sell and value. There will need to be an exit for you to receive a realised return on your investment. Exits are likely to take considerably longer than the three-year minimum EIS holding period; equally, an exit within three years could impact tax relief.
To claim tax relief, for a knowledge intensive EIS fund you will need an EIS5 certificate. Certificates can be issued once the fund has invested 90% of its capital, which it is required to do within 24 months of the close. Tax reliefs depend on the portfolio companies maintaining their EIS-qualifying status. For capital gains tax deferral and inheritance tax relief the investment date is when the capital is invested in each company, not the fund close date. Remember, tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.
Before you invest, please carefully read the Risks and Commitments and the offer documents to ensure you fully understand the risks.
The manager believes that if a company fails, the intellectual property it owns could still have some resale value, but there are no guarantees.
Charges
A summary of the main charges and savings is shown below. Some of these will be payable by the investor, whilst others by the investee companies. The investment may have additional charges and expenses: please see the provider documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details.
| Investor charges | |
|---|---|
| Initial charge | 5% |
| Annual management charge | 1.5% |
| Administration charge | 0.25% |
| Dealing charge | 0.20% |
| Performance fee | 20% |
| Investee company charges | |
| Initial charge | — |
| Annual charges | — |
The fees and charges above are stated exclusive of VAT, which applies in some cases, as determined by the manager. Please check the VAT position carefully in the provider documents. Any fees and charges payable by the investee companies or the underlying businesses do not directly come out of your investment. However, they will effectively reduce the returns generated by investee companies and therefore impact your investment.
More detail on the charges
When you invest through us, Wealth Club will receive initial commission (2.5%) and trail commission (0%). These are paid by the provider – there is no additional cost to you.
Any charges deducted from the subscription will reduce the amount invested and on which tax relief can be claimed.
Any investee company charges are levied on the underlying companies. They will not affect the amount of tax relief available but can still impact investor returns.
The performance applies on returns in excess of £1 per £1 invested. Whilst not uncommon among EIS funds, this is a low hurdle. Performance fees are calculated on a portfolio basis.
Other changes apply. Please see the provider’s documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details.
Our view
Parkwalk has a clear investment strategy in a defined area: university spinouts
The investment team has plenty of experience in this field, and Parkwalk’s standing in the industry could allow access to opportunities other managers would be hard pressed to access. Investors have historically been well rewarded for supporting this high-risk area of the market, although past performance is not a guide to the future.
Parkwalk’s links to the UK’s leading universities and large institutional investors, such as parent company IP Group Plc., set it apart from many other EIS funds. These could provide companies with access to the pools of liquidity needed to commercialise their intellectual property and potentially provide EIS investors with an additional route to exit, although this is not guaranteed.
Compared with the Parkwalk Opportunities EIS Fund, the EIS KI Fund provides investors with greater clarity on the timing of income tax relief, a single tax certificate, and greater diversification (it targets a minimum of 10 investee companies, compared to eight in the Opportunities EIS fund).
In our view, this is a high-quality EIS fund within an exciting and hard-to-reach sector. However, the focus on intellectual property means these investments are typically very early stage and high risk.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 11 February 2026
Wealth Club aims to make it easier for experienced investors to find information on – and apply for – investments. You should base your investment decision on the offer documents and ensure you have read and fully understand them before investing. The information on this webpage is a marketing communication. It is not advice or a personal or research recommendation to buy any of the investments mentioned, nor does it include any opinion as to the present or future value or price of these investments. It does not satisfy legal requirements promoting investment research independence and is thus not subject to prohibitions on dealing ahead of its dissemination.