Led · Grant · Jun 2026

Tafalgie Therapeutics is conducting research to decode the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie analgesic actions. The company aims to develop a new treatment capable of relieving and preventing pain. Its recent activities include securing a €380,000 research grant from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). CEO Eric Schettini described the FEDER support as validation of the company’s mission. The article did not report revenue, users, founding year, location, or prior funding rounds.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2025

Melius CyberSafe is a Newcastle, UK-based provider of a cybersecurity platform that monitors a company’s IT network, website and mobile apps around the clock and automates penetration testing by simulating attacks to detect weaknesses. The system helps users demonstrate monitoring required for accreditations such as Cyber Essentials and CE+. The company launched a new version of its platform earlier this year and says it will use additional funding to increase market share. It raised an additional £250K in funding from the North East Venture Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia. Named clients include Virgin Wines, Crafter’s Companion and Jules B. The platform is positioned to help businesses rapidly detect threats and maintain continuous compliance monitoring. MELIUS Cyber offers CyberSafe, a platform built for SMEs that continuously monitors an organisation’s IT network, website and mobile apps and automates vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. The platform helps customers demonstrate monitoring for accreditations such as Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001 and claims to reduce average breach detection time from 277 days to one. MELIUS serves over 60 clients, including Virgin Wines, Crafters Companion and Jules B. A new version launching in the coming months will add enhanced reporting and analytics, built-in anti-ransomware, advanced email security, automated alerts and the ability to check over 250,000 vulnerabilities daily. The company says it will incorporate new AI capabilities and use the funding to accelerate product development. MELIUS plans to work towards building a full security operation centre (SOC) and a security information and event management (SIEM) solution, and to expand its team by creating six new jobs. The business is based in Newcastle and has raised a total of £1.35m to date.

Led · Equity · Apr 2025

Aelius Biotech has developed a laboratory gut model that uniquely simulates all three stages of digestion, including the world’s first cell-compatible mucus to create a fully integrated in vitro system. The company provides testing services to consumer health, pharmaceutical and functional food customers, and counts Huel and multiple alternative-protein and lab-grown meat manufacturers among its clients. Aelius was founded in 2018 by Dr Peter Chater, Dr Matt Wilcox and Professor Jeff Pearson, based on research at the University of Newcastle. Since its 2023 funding it has grown headcount from five to 15 and doubled revenue in 2024. The business is completing a new laboratory in Blandford Square and plans to accelerate expansion into US and European markets. Leadership says the latest funding will support international growth and help the company pursue a global position in improved in vitro testing. Aelius Biotech is a biotech spinout from Newcastle University that has developed an in vitro human gut model which simulates all three stages of digestion. The model tracks substances passing through the gut, crossing the mucus layer and being absorbed, giving companies insight into product performance and absorption. By enabling non-animal trials, the technology aims to de-risk product development and improve formulations for better absorption and effectiveness. The company currently operates a five-strong team and plans to expand by creating ten new jobs over the next two years. Aelius intends to use the funds to meet demand by relocating from the university into dedicated laboratories in Newcastle. The business was founded by Dr Peter Chater, Dr Matt Wilcox and Professor Jeff Pearson.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2024

Wordnerds has developed an AI-enabled product that analyses unstructured text to deliver actionable insights to consumer-facing organisations in minutes. The company’s platform is already used by customers including Sainsbury’s, M&S, Network Rail and the Department for Work and Pensions. Led by CEO Pete Daykin, Wordnerds focuses on rapid text analysis for enterprise users. The business raised funding to support expansion of operations and continued product development. The announced financing and grant strengthen its balance sheet to accelerate growth and R&D. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2024

Dryad Networks builds Silvanet, a solar-powered, AI-driven IoT sensor network for ultra-early wildfire detection and forest health monitoring. Silvanet is deployed in over twenty countries and the company has shipped 20,000 sensors to date. Dryad is developing Florian, an autonomous drone-based wildfire suppression system that would use technologies such as acoustic waves and a permanently stationed drone fleet for rapid response. Florian is a finalist in the XPRIZE Wildfire Competition. The company says new funding will allow it to scale Silvanet deployments and accelerate Florian’s development. Recent capital injections include grant and convertible financing proceeds to support product development and strategic partnerships. Dryad Networks builds a proprietary wildfire detection solution that combines solar-powered infrastructure with AI-enabled gas sensors placed across forested areas. Its core product, Silvanet, is deployed in more than twenty countries across North America, Europe and Asia. The company has shipped 30,000 sensors to date. Dryad intends to use newly raised capital to accelerate development and wider deployment of its detection technology. The company is led by CEO Carsten Brinkschulte and is based in Berlin, Germany. The announcement cites an initial closing of convertible financing as a validation of the company’s market position and potential. Dryad Networks builds Silvanet, a large-scale environmental IoT network that uses gas sensors trained to detect smoke and alert during the smoldering phase of fires. Its wireless sensor solution can operate in remote regions and uses IoT technology to extend mobile coverage, enabling alerts within minutes to give first responders critical time. The system is already deployed with public and private clients in Europe, South America and the US. Dryad aims to deploy 120 million sensors by 2030 and to prevent roughly 3.9–4.0 million hectares of forest from burning, avoiding an estimated 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions. TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good has made an equity investment into Dryad as part of its Series A, and the funding will support scaling deployments into the US and Canada. By improving reaction times and ultra-early detection, Dryad positions itself to reduce wildfire-related economic losses, biodiversity impacts and emissions. Dryad is a Berlin-based environmental IoT startup led by CEO Carsten Brinkschulte. It provides solar-powered environmental sensor networks and an end-to-end Silvanet® system for ultra-early wildfire detection and forest monitoring. Silvanet combines low-cost sensors, solar-powered LoRa-based mesh networking infrastructure and a cloud analytics platform to monitor, analyse and protect large, remote forests for public and private forest owners. The company spent more than two years developing the system. Dryad raised €10.5M in a Series A round led by eCAPITAL with participation from Toba Capital, Semtech and TIME Ventures. It intends to use the funds to scale its team and accelerate its go-to-market strategy around the world. Dryad Networks develops Silvanet, a large-scale IoT network that uses a mesh of gas sensors for ultra-early detection of wildfires (detection in under 60 minutes). The company is focused on enabling public and private forest owners to monitor, analyze and protect remote forests. It tested a minimum viable product in a German forest and has secured ten letters of intent from forest owners in Germany and Africa. Dryad will use the new funding to accelerate product development across R&D, testing and market introduction. The firm expects to begin two proof-of-concept deployments in Germany and Africa by summer 2021. The team is led by CEO and co-founder Carsten Brinkschulte.