Life sciences and deeptech venture capital firm, Northern Gritstone, has unveiled its rolling close of \u00a320m worth of additional ordinary share commitments.<\/p>\n
The investment comes from existing Northern Gritstone shareholders, including the British Business Bank as cornerstone investor, increasing their respective commitments to the company.<\/p>\n
This close builds on the firm\u2019s April 2025 close of \u00a3362m permanent capital, taking it to \u00a3382m over the course of 2026.<\/p>\n
Northern Gritstone is seeking to raise additional capital and the close marks the start of that programme.<\/p>\n
\u00a310m of the new funding commitment comes from the British Business Bank, bringing its total investment in Northern Gritstone to date to \u00a340m. Further investors include Andrew Law, CEO of hedge fund Caxton Associates.<\/p>\n
Active since May 2022, Northern Gritstone said it is seizing the North of England’s innovation opportunity, investing in and scaling at speed deeptech and life sciences start-ups that solve global problems, with the potential to scale worldwide.<\/p>\n
The company has made 51 investments in deeptech and life sciences, including semiconductor design and manufacturing; novel materials; secure computing; AI; healthtech; and gene therapies.<\/p>\n
Many of its portfolio companies are spinouts from the Northern Arc universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield, which combined generate close to \u00a3800m in research funding annually.<\/p>\n
The British Business Bank is the largest investor in UK venture and venture growth capital funds.<\/p>\n
Northern Gritstone chair, Lord Jim O\u2019Neill, said: \u201cWe are very grateful for this further support from the British Business Bank and Andrew Law to continue developing global businesses in the North of England originating from our \u2018Northern Arc\u2019 university ecosystem.<\/p>\n
“In this way, investors are contributing to future higher value-added activity and the North\u2019s productivity.”<\/p>\n
Northern Gritstone chief executive, Duncan Johnson, said: \u201cThis strong start to Northern Gritstone\u2019s rolling close in today\u2019s challenging fundraising environment shows the belief in innovation coming from the North of England.<\/p>\n
“The region is now an integral part of the UK\u2019s Technology Diamond, and we are proud to support the incredible talent of the North, helping to commercialise groundbreaking research into internationally commercial businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christine Hockley, managing director and head of Commercial Equity Funds, British Business Bank, added: \u201cThe UK\u2019s universities are a powerhouse of breakthrough research, and Northern Gritstone plays a vital role in transforming world\u2011class research from the North of England into high\u2011potential, IP\u2011rich businesses.<\/p>\n
“Our increased commitment reflects the bank\u2019s ambition to scale life sciences and deeptech businesses, which are critical to the UK\u2019s future growth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Supports Northern Gritstone\u2019s ambition to create global life science and tech firms rooted in the North<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238857,"featured_media":2153535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120782],"coauthors":[62387],"class_list":["post-2153534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-east-yorkshire","tag-featured-story","tag-north-yorkshire","tag-south-yorkshire","tag-west-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\n