UK-based biotechnology company ILC Therapeutics has announced that it has secured significant investment from its first global investor Medical Incubator Japan. The Scottish life sciences company, which has received international attention through its work exploring COVID-19 therapeutic treatments with the University of St Andrews, is MIJ’s first investment in a biotech company in Europe. 

Research technology company uMed has raised £3.7m in venture capital from AlbionVC, Delin Ventures and Playfair Capital, along with Silicon Valley’s 11.2 Capital.

The latest round of funding¹ will see uMed give healthcare providers in the UK and US, including GPs and hospitals, the tools to run patient research more efficiently while safeguarding patient data and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Navenio, the UK healthcare scale-up, has announced a $1.1 million investment from Future Planet Capital to help revolutionise healthcare efficiency worldwide.

The Navenio solution, a spin-out of Oxford University, provides infrastructure-free indoor location solutions, the equivalent of GPS for use indoors, to power a range of apps and platforms in sectors including healthcare. Navenio is tackling the rising cost of healthcare with a tool that can increase workplace productivity by up to 100%, freeing up clinical resources for other high value tasks.

The pan-European private equity firm Silverfleet Capital has agreed to sell its majority stake in 7days, a German supplier of workwear for the healthcare industry, to a consortium of private equity firms, Chequers Capital and Paragon Partners, generating a 3.1x gross money multiple. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected by January 2021.

The digital healthcare consent platform, Flynotes, has successfully secured funding from NPIF - Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, and the GM&C Life Sciences Fund, managed by Catapult Ventures. 

Flynotes is addressing a major issue faced by doctors, dentists and patients alike: gaining valid and informed consent prior to delivering or receiving dental and medical treatment. Its platform provides a simple and effective digital solution to the current paper-based consent and disclosure process. This innovative interface between patients and health professionals is streamlining consent to treatment, removing inefficiencies brought about by paper forms and providing a fully compliant audit trail.

DefiniGEN, a provider of human cell products and services, has raised £3.25 million to accelerate its next phase of growth. This includes £2 million from BGF, the UK’s most active investor, alongside its existing consortium of investors led by 24Haymarket.

DefiniGEN is a spin-out from the University of Cambridge, creating highly predictive disease cell models for preclinical research and drug development. The process of bringing new drugs to market is arduous, expensive and blighted by a high failure rate. DefiniGEN’s models help the biopharma industry to respond to these challenges, enabling highly relevant information on potential new drug efficacy to be realised in an accelerated manner.

Ingenion Medical Limited has been awarded nearly £100,000 in grant funding from Innovate UK, the country’s innovation agency. Ingenion will use the proceeds over the next six months to gain a CE Mark for its CymActive™ urinary catheter, a novel medical device to treat male patients suffering from chronic urinary retention. 

BiVictriX Therapeutics has completed a £1m funding round from existing shareholders including Acceleris Private Investors, the Development Bank of Wales & BioCity Investments, alongside the Future Fund.

Navenio, the healthcare scale-up whose location-based technology has been shown to double the throughput of hospital teams, has secured a £400,000 grant from the UK government and Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, to address the impact of COVID-19 on hospitals.

Pembroke VCT has made an initial investment of £2 million into Eave, a UK-based tech start-up which has developed a unique hearing protection system for construction workers.

Psyomics Ltd, a UK-based healthtech and University of Cambridge spin-out, has closed a £1.5 million  funding round from existing and new investors to bring its mental health assessment and diagnosis platform, Censeo, to market in the UK. University spinout specialists Parkwalk led the round, joined by fellow existing investors Jonathan Milner, Martlet, and Cambridge Enterprise.

Disease Screening and Diagnosis startup, Occuity has raised more than £1m, supported by Angel Investment Network, the world’s largest online angel investment platform. Occuity is developing products to screen for, diagnose and monitor major chronic health conditions including diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease. Reading-based Occuity has developed a non-invasive optical device that works by detecting markers that the body deposits in the eye.