£22m funding rounds to fuel growth for Mercia investments
Mercia has completed syndicated funding rounds totalling £22.4m into three of its existing investments. Nearly 80% of the investment funding has come from outside of its balance sheet.
The regional asset manager has bolstered its stake in Warwick Acoustics to 36.5% after investing £2m as part of a £6.9m syndicated funding round. The designer of high-end audio systems is set to use the funds to support R&D and scale its production capacity after securing its first OEM commercial contract.
It’s invested £2.5m in a £8.4m round into Locate Bio, a Nottingham-based orthobiologics company. The oversubscribed funding round will help progress the firm’s ongoing clinical study of LDGraft, which is being developed for use in patients who require surgery for chronic lower back pain. Mercia’s stake now becomes 20.1%.
Mercia completes the three investments by upping its stake to 11.5% in biotechnology firm MIP Discovery. £1.2m has been invested as part of a £7.1m round and will be used to drive further commercialisation of the company’s technology, which aims to develop life-changing cell and gene therapies.
Dr Mark Payton, CEO of Mercia Asset Management said: “We continue to be encouraged by the overall development of our direct investment portfolio. A number of the companies in our portfolio are maturing as they scale the commercial applications of their underlying IP. Furthermore, the syndicated nature of these funding rounds, where nearly 80% of the investment funding is coming from outside of Mercia’s balance sheet, reflects the confidence of the wider venture community in these companies.
“Our significant liquidity means that we are able to continue selectively supporting the existing portfolio’s growth ambitions, with or without additional syndicated co-investment.”
