£400K investment for EV backed fertility firm

MERCIA Technologies, the listed funder which acquired Enterprise Ventures in March, has agreed its first investment sourced from the portfolio of investments managed by Enterprise Ventures.

It has invested an initial £400,000, via a convertible loan note, in Concepta Diagnostics, which develops diagnostic devices for women’s health.

Manchester-headquartered Enterprise Ventures has previously invested in the business with seed and early stage finance from its third party managed funds.

Based in York, Concepta’s products provides reliable data to women for a variety of fertility applications. It uses disposable test strips and devices linked to a mobile app which captures levels of key fertility hormones in urine and builds an accurate and easy-to-understand digital diary.

Its product range was recently registered in China, where the abolition of China’s one-child policy is expected to drive significant demand.

Erik Henau, chief executive of Concepta Diagnostics, said: “We are delighted to work with Mercia. Its endorsement is a boost for our plans to make a major impact in the area of personalised healthcare. Our initial product offering will bring hope to millions of couples for whom conception is an agonising wait.”

Investment director Dr. Mark Wyatt, who has managed the third party investment for Enterprise Ventures, said: “Having worked with Concepta for a number of years, I am pleased that this new investment will enable the company to move to the next stage of its development and bring this exciting technology to market.  

“Typically, follow-on funding can be a real obstacle for the continued development and success of early stage companies but as part of Mercia, we are now able to support regional innovation all the way through its journey thanks to our access to Mercia’s direct funding model.”

Mercia said the acquisition of Enterprise Ventures, which focuses on early stage and growth finance via third party managed funds in the north, has significantly expanded the group’s pipeline of direct investment prospects, where it provides follow-on investment capital from its own resources into ’emerging stars’.

Peter Dines, investment director and head of life sciences at Mercia, said: “The investment into Concepta reinforces the strategic rationale behind Mercia’s acquisition of EVG, as a high-quality portfolio company within its portfolio.  

“One of the key drivers behind the acquisition of EVG was to enable Mercia to expand the pipeline of opportunities from which it can make direct investments and Concepta is a perfect example of this strategy in action.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close