Led · Seed · Dec 2025

Black Bull Biochar is a UK-based climate-tech startup that designs and deploys biochar production units which convert organic waste into a stable carbon-rich material that enhances soils and locks away carbon for thousands of years. Its systems simultaneously generate renewable process heat, offering an immediate decarbonisation route for industrial clients. The company already supplies or collaborates with partners such as Avara Foods, Marks & Spencer, Ahlstrom, A W Jenkinson and Arla Foods. With rising demand from agriculture, industry and the carbon-removals market, Black Bull Biochar plans to build additional production sites in the North West of England and establish a strong foothold in northern Europe through its new Danish subsidiary. The firm is relocating its headquarters from London to Manchester to support this expansion and to tap local supply chains. Financially, the company has secured a £4 million late-seed round split equally between equity and debt, providing the capital needed for R&D expansion and market entry. Access to Innovate UK’s flexible debt facility is viewed internally as a key accelerant for its asset-heavy growth model.

Participated · Equity · Feb 2025

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Stockport, UK, Symphony Commerce (formerly Shopblocks) offers a cloud platform purpose-built for complex B2B commerce. The software allows wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers to launch customised e-commerce sites, product catalogues, and self-service customer portals without extensive engineering resources. Key features include sophisticated pricing engines, personalised discounts, and integrations with ERP, finance, and marketing systems to keep back-office data in sync. The company reports a base of more than 2,000 customers, among them Toshiba, Giacom, Daisy Telecom, and Tower Housewares. Symphony positions its solution as a way for traditional B2B suppliers to modernise sales channels and enhance customer experience. The newly raised capital will support additional product development and operational expansion, signalling continued investment in feature depth and market reach.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2024

Earswitch develops the EarMetrics platform, which places sensors in the ear canal to capture continuous vital signs and digital blood pressure measurements. The company argues the ear is a stable site proximate to central arterial signals, enabling steadier ambulatory monitoring than episodic cuff-based devices. Earswitch is targeting applications including remote patient monitoring, sleep studies and long-term condition management. Its near-term plans focus on product development, clinical validation and commercial readiness to support regulatory clearance and NHS adoption. The company is participating in an Innovate UK-funded programme to help generate clinical validation data and prepare for commercial trials. The seed funding closed will support these development and validation activities as it moves toward market readiness.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2023

Shopblocks offers a no-code ecommerce platform that enables companies to create complete ecommerce ecosystems with multiple linked accounts, separate stores for different brands or locations, and white-label sites for resellers and dealers. Its platform is assembled from modular building blocks that can be rapidly combined to create full websites. The product is aimed at medium and large companies with complex pricing models or supply chains, such as wholesalers, IT resellers, and businesses offering bespoke products. Shopblocks is led by CEO Kevin Jones and CCO Stewart Reynolds and is based in Manchester. The company employs 35 staff, serves over 2,000 customers including Toshiba, Daisy Telecom and Tower Housewares, and reports annual recurring revenue of over £1M plus project fees. It intends to use the new funds to further enhance its platform and attract more large B2B-focused clients. Shopblocks (Miribase t/a Shopblocks) offers an ecommerce website platform that specialises in online shops and is designed to handle the complex needs of larger businesses. The platform is feature-rich and intended as an alternative to template-driven solutions or bespoke agency builds. Shopblocks has more than doubled revenue each of the past four years and processes millions of transactions per day for merchants across the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The company currently employs around 50 people in Greater Manchester and plans to hire approximately 100 more across all divisions. Growth plans include expanding its US operation and opening a new Australia office to enable 24/7 global support for customers. Shopblocks provides an e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create websites ranging from a simple homepage to a full online store. Its technology enables online businesses to manage their own sites, and the company offers an optional onboarding service to manage complete setups on customers' behalf. Customers range from startups to major online retailers. Founded in 2015 and based in Stockport, UK, the business employs 20 people and plans to create an additional 37 jobs for developers, sales and support staff. The company raised £500k in funding and intends to use the proceeds to expand in the UK and the US. Shopblocks has already established dedicated sites for the New Zealand and Australian markets.

Led · Equity · Mar 2023

Vector Homes develops affordable, sustainable modular housing using new techniques and materials and integrating embedded sensing to measure and control temperature, humidity and air quality in each room. Each Vector home will feature the latest energy-saving technologies. The company is undertaking research and development at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre at the University of Manchester and has expanded its team while opening a manufacturing facility and workshop in Middleton, Greater Manchester. Work is under way on a prototype demonstration family home. The company plans to use the newly raised funds to accelerate growth, expand operations and broaden its business reach. The leadership team includes CEO Nathan Feddy, CTO Liam Britnell, COO Jonas Singer, senior scientist Vicente Orts and architect Tiago Luxton.