Northern Gritstone raises £50m to support university spinouts
University spinout investor, Northern Gritstone, has raised a further £50m to invest in early-stage life sciences and deeptech companies across the North of England.
Northern LGPS, the collective asset pool for Greater Manchester, Merseyside and West Yorkshire Pension Funds has invested £35m, with a further £15m boost from new investors Fulcrum Asset Management and Aviva. The funding brings its total capital to £362m.
Northern Gritstone has also announced the appointment of Greater Manchester Pension Fund assistant director Paddy Dowdall to its board as non-executive director.
Launched in 2022, Northern Gritstone has made 32 investments in early-stage businesses in the North of England, expanded its investment team and launched its accelerator program, NG Studios.
The company supports deeptech and life sciences companies, including semiconductor design and manufacturing, novel materials, secure computing, AI; healthtech and gene therapies.
Duncan Johnson, Northern Gritstone chief executive, said: “This new fundraise backed by Northern LGPS, Fulcrum and Aviva is testimony to our ability to create the world-leading businesses of tomorrow based on world-class innovation that exists in the North of England.”
David Merton, executive director at Fulcrum Asset Management David Merton said “We are delighted to form a long-term partnership with Northern Gritstone. Our venture capital strategy is built around identifying and backing leading hubs of innovation. It became clear during our due diligence that Northern Gritstone’s design and focus on spinouts from leading universities in the North of England strongly aligns with this. We see immense potential in their ambition to cultivate a dynamic community of science and technology businesses across the North — a vision that we are proud to support.”
Ben Luckett, managing director, venture and strategic capital, at Aviva Investors, said “Aviva has a substantial presence across the North of England and is delighted to support growth investments developed within the region through our investment with Northern Gritstone. University spin outs will help power innovation, drive tangible real-world impact, and support the UK to get ready for the future.”
