Northern Gritstone leads seed round into X-ray innovator
The Northern Gritstone fund is leading a £4 million seed investment round into an X-ray technology company which moved to Manchester from Surrey to access talent and resources.
Silveray is looking to transform industrial radiography through digitisation, and has raised the funding as it heads towards a first product launch in 2025.
Investing alongside Northern Gritstone, an investment company focused on science and technology businesses in the North of England and chaired by former Goldman Sachs economist Lord Jim O’Neill, are deep tech investors Empirical Ventures, Deeptech Labs, and Hamamatsu Ventures.
Also backing Sileray is ACF Investors (formerly the Angel CoFund) a privately managed and commercially focused venture capital fund that works alongside sector smart business angels to invest in high-potential SMEs across the UK, founded in 2011.
Since initial funding from Northern Gritstone in 2023, Silveray has accelerated product development using its sensitive flexible material that converts x-rays into digital x-ray images at the point of use. The seed round will enable the company to complete development of its first DXF product ready to launch in 2025 to industrial users of radiographic film.
DXF flat glass straps
Silveray’s CEO Dan Cathie, has a long history of leading innovative companies in the technology and semiconductor sector, five of which were spent as CEO of leading developer of image sensors for X-ray applications, vivaMOS Ltd, which he guided through its full start-up lifecycle from a spinout until it was acquired by Nordson Corporation in 2020.
Dan Cathie CEO of Silveray said: “Silveray’s initial goal is to digitise radiographic film, so that radiographers are no longer restricted to exposing, developing, viewing, and storing film.
“Early customer engagement in industrial means we are confident of becoming revenue generating in 2025 and Northern Gritstone’s investment will help us achieve that,” he said.
Silveray was founded at the University of Surrey in 2018 by Professor Ravi Silva, Silveray relocated to Greater Manchester in 2022 to “gain access to the North of England’s rich talent pool and resources. In particular, the company has worked closely with X-ray specialists” at the University of Manchester to develop its innovative direct conversion detectors.
Northern Gritstone has made 28 investments and has £312 million predominantly raised from pension funds to invest into science and technology companies in the North of England.
Duncan Johnson
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: “The progress made by the Silveray team since our initial investment in 2023 has been phenomenal. Dan Cathie and his team have the enviable combination of innovation and entrepreneurialism having developed a novel digital x-ray solution with numerous applications which are already disrupting the analogue x-ray market. We are delighted to continue our support of Silveray as it builds its commercial traction, helping the team on its path to success.”
Katsuhiro Kobayashi, CEO of Hamamatsu Ventures Japan said “Silveray’s novel nanoparticle-based direct X-ray conversion material could completely disrupt x-ray imaging markets. We look forward to our strategic collaboration with Silveray and sharing our industry expertise to accelerate their growth.”
Together with NG Innovation Services, Northern Gritstone offers ‘Capital+++’ connecting early-stage founders with funding and expertise through its close links to industry-leading partners and its founding universities of Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
