USA: Vytala, a US-based food technology company dedicated to advancing nutrition, has announced its launch and the initial close of its pre-seed financing. For the past year, Vytala has been in stealth, recruiting a highly experienced executive team, refining its initial product formulation, putting in place key partnerships and preparing for commercialization. Its mission is now clear: Vytala will help people with GI diagnoses achieve their best health through the power of nutrition.

clock.bio, a healthspan biotech, has raised $5.3 million in seed funding led by LocalGlobe, with participation from BlueYard Capital, Onsight Ventures, and Dr. Jonathan Milner, the Founder of Abcam. The company has made significant progress in decoding the biology of human rejuvenation, identifying more than 100 genes that jointly constitute an "Atlas of Rejuvenation Factors."

The Development Bank of Wales has taken an equity stake in Cardiff-based Llusern Scientific as part of a substantial six-figure funding round that is helping the University of South Wales spinout to commercialise its testing for Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs).

Llusern Scientific is one of six University spinouts that have collectively secured £1.7 million in equity funding from the Development Bank of Wales to date in 2024 as the Bank focusses on boosting innovation in Wales. The others include Swansea-based Corryn Biotechnologies and Grove Nanomaterials along with Awen Oncology, a spin-out of Bangor University and Cardiff University. Cardiff Metropolitan University spinout Kaydiar and Cardiff University spinout Optimise.ai have also had equity investments.

Medtech startup Corryn Biotechnologies Ltd has secured a £150,000 investment from British Design Fund, as part of a £550,000 seed funding round 

Revolution-ZERO has secured £1 million equity from the South West Investment Fund via appointed fund manager, The FSE Group. The initial £1.6 million round, which includes funding from private angels, will help create 20 new jobs while supporting the overall growth of the business, which is based in Truro in Cornwall.

Founded in 2020, Revolution-ZERO is a medical textile solutions provider, with a strong emphasis on environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Initially focused on reusable masks, the company has since expanded to include surgical textile solutions and decontamination/sterilisation units equipped with an RFID tracking system.

NanoSyrinx, a synthetic biology company developing nanosyringes as a novel platform for targeted intracellular delivery of biologic therapeutics, has closed a c. £10 million (c. $13 million) financing round.

PhoreMost Ltd, a leading UK biopharmaceutical company unlocking the next generation of drug targets, has added USD $12 million to its Series B financing, bringing the total raised to over $50 million. The additional investment was led by Parkwalk Advisors, the largest growth EIS fund manager, with participation from existing investors BGF, Dr Jonathan Milner, Amadeus Capital and Astellas Venture Management, and will support the progression of PhoreMost's pipeline of novel degrader assets.

SOLASTA Bio, a leading agri-biotech company specialising in the next generation of green insecticides, has completed an oversubscribed $14 million Series A funding round to accelerate the development of its unique peptide-based, nature-inspired bioinsecticides - the first of their kind to be developed worldwide.

The investment round was led by Forbion via its BioEconomy fund strategy, with co-lead investment from agricultural strategics FMC Ventures (FMC Corporation) and Corteva Inc., through its Corteva Catalyst platform. Participation from existing investors included Cavallo Ventures (Wilbur-Ellis), Rubio Impact Ventures, Scottish Enterprise, UKi2S, SIS Ventures and University of Glasgow, bringing the total raised to date to $19 million. In the context of this round Joy Faucher from Forbion will join the company's board of directors.

University spin-out Awen Oncology has secured a substantial equity investment from the Development Bank of Wales and co-investors Start Codon, to further develop a breakthrough range of anti-cancer drugs that target a variety of cancer types. This brings the total funds raised by Awen Oncology to over £1 million.

Chromacity, a Scottish laser technology business, has secured over £1m of new funding from existing investors - Eos Advisory, Kelvin Capital and Scottish Enterprise - to support the launch of its latest ultrafast laser technology focussed on the healthcare market, and from the UK Government's Innovate UK programme to develop its technology for monitoring agricultural emissions.

4D Medicine – a UK company whose innovative biomaterial has potential to be used for a wide range of 3D printed implants and surgical devices - has raised £3.4m ($4.4m) in a Series A investment.  The funding round was led by Oshen Holdings and backed by DSW Ventures, SFC Capital, Boundary Capital and private investors including several leading scientists and surgeons. It will enable the company to complete pre-clinical testing of its first product range and seek FDA clearance for entry into the US market.

Global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company has acquired Aparito, the Wrexham-based med-tech business set up by Dr Elin Haf Davies and part-funded by the Development Bank of Wales who now exit with an initial return of 2.9x on their £1.2 million equity investment.