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The number of spin-off companies with links to universities are rising, according to a survey published this week. The sixth Higher Education-Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey also found improvements in the quality of these companies, with the number of spin-offs in business three years or more rising from 592 in 2004-05 to 669 in 2005-06. Research between public funders and business is now valued at almost ?600 million, an increase of 12 per cent from last year.