A COMPANY specialising in creating hi-tech new materials that was founded on technology from Southampton University is to list on the stock market in a move valuing the business at £18.7m.

Ilika includes companies like motor giant Toyota, oil firm Shell and chip-maker NXP among its clients and its cutting edge work underpins green technology that “will power our cars, homes and businesses”.

The listing, which goes live on May 14, raises £5.2m to fund further development of new materials for the energy, electronics and biomedical sectors.

It’s the 12th firm to be spun out from the university since 2000 and the fourth to list on AIM, after oil exploration company Offshore Hydro-carbon Mapping, asthma researcher Synairgen and fibre laser specialist SPI Lasers.

Today they have a combined market value of £160m, although SPI Lasers was acquired by German firm Trumpf, the world’s biggest laser-maker, for £27.8m in 2008.

The performance has seen the university ranked among the top three internationally for successful spin-out operations, along with Stanford University in the US and Cambridge.

Professor Don Nutbeam, vice-chancellor of the Univ-ersity of Southampton, said: “In a tough economic climate, innovation companies of high quality generate real value and stimulate the economy.

“The listing of Ilika shows that universities are contributing directly to growth in the economy with globally competitive companies born from international research excellence.”

Dr Tony Raven, director of research and Innovation Services at the university said: “This is another example of how the university is getting its research out of the lab and into the marketplace.”