Medical research charity the Wellcome Trust is to invest £200m in a new business that will provide funding for emerging healthcare companies and technologies.

The new business will be directly owned and managed by the Wellcome Trust with the primary remit of delivering returns on investments, whilst also providing smaller businesses with an opportunity to make medical research advances.

The new venture is currently under the working title 'Project Sigma' with an official name and branding to be announced shortly. Sigma will take ownership positions in companies in line with the Wellcome Trust’s policy in recent years of investing in private equity. Sigma’s involvement in multiple investments will also allow expertise to be shared across companies and scientific fields.

Commenting on the creation and ideals behind Sigma, Wellcome Trust director Sir Mark Walport said:

"The Wellcome Trust is known as an investor that takes a long-term view. Sigma will extend this successful approach to direct investments in emerging healthcare technologies, to give small and medium-sized companies the support they require to fulfil their potential.”

"This important investment opportunity will help the Trust to fulfil its vision of achieving extraordinary improvements in health, by generating returns that can be used to fund the work of outstanding researchers in the biomedical sciences and the medical humanities."

The Wellcome Trust board of governors has approved the new venture and a chairman and chief executive have now been appointed.