Life sciences firm lands £400,000 worth of funding
Life science firm YProtech has raised £400,000 to fund additional growth.
Corporate finance house Acceleris Capital completed the fundraising which included £250,000 equity finance and further £150,000 of debt.
The funding was provided by NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance, a product fund managed by FW Capital and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
YPT is a specialist high value chemistry services company formed in 2011 aimed primarily at the life sciences sector.
Based at Alderley Science Park the core of the company’s business is the provision of chemistry technical services to companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and applied chemistry sectors.
Since its previous equity fundraising in October 2016, YPT has boosted its revenues impressively and reached profitability in early 2018.
The company now boasts a diverse customer base from the UK, Europe and the US which includes both listed and private companies, large corporates, universities and other research institutions.
The funds will be used to provide additional growth capital to advance further into the niche service offering in YPT’s high-potency facilities as well as to capitalise further on the provision of medicinal chemistry expertise and the well-established chemistry services model.
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) recently marked a significant milestone in its 18-month history, having backed £100 million of investment across the Northern Powerhouse region. To date, NPIF has made over 300 investments in small growing businesses across the 10 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas it operates in.
Following completion of the deal, Executive Chairman of YPT Dr Tony Flinn, said: “The Board and management team are delighted to secure the funds which will allow us to invest further in new services, strengthen the Company’s commercial and marketing resource and drive further growth in a growing market.
“Customers are searching for flexible resource and added-value expertise which is where YProtech excels.”
Gavin Cowling, senior investment executive at FW Capital said: “I am delighted that FW Capital have been able to provide funding to support the growth of this exciting business which has a good pipeline of work, a strong management team with a good mix of skills, and excellent corporate finance support provided by Acceleris Capital.
“We have already made a number of investments in this sector and continue to look for further opportunities given that Manchester Science Park, Alderley Park and Daresbury Science park are all in the NPIF region.
“I would encourage other businesses that are looking for growth finance to contact me to see if FW Capital can help.”
Simon Thorn, corporate finance director at Acceleris Capital, said: “We are delighted to secure this package of funding for YProtech which will allow them to invest in further operational efficiencies and to secure further growth over the next period.
“The management team have delivered exceptional growth which has made securing these new funds possible and we look forward to continued success.”
