The Venture Codex

Led · Series C · Jul 2025

Ultromics, spun out of the University of Oxford, offers EchoGo®, an artificial-intelligence platform that turns routine cardiac ultrasounds into objective diagnostic reports. The system is trained on one of the world’s largest echocardiography datasets and validated against actual patient outcomes, enabling it to identify subtle markers of HFpEF that are frequently missed in standard workflows. EchoGo has already analyzed more than 430,000 echocardiograms and is deployed in hospitals across the United States and the United Kingdom. Clinical studies cited by the company show the software reached a diagnostic decision in 93% of patients versus 40% for traditional HFpEF risk scores, with consistent accuracy across gender, age and risk groups. Ultromics’ technology is reimbursed by public and private payers and is cleared by the U.S. FDA, underscoring its commercial readiness. Backed by multiple investors and health systems, the company aims to make early identification of heart failure a standard part of cardiac care worldwide.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2024

Cambridge Electric Cement (CEC) is a University of Cambridge spin‑out founded in 2022 that has developed the world’s first process to make low‑carbon, recycled cement by processing recovered cement paste through electric arc furnaces (EAFs). The process substitutes recovered cement paste (RCP) for lime in steel recycling, reactivating RCP in EAFs without interfering with steelmaking and avoiding kiln‑related energy use and calcination emissions. Recent trials demonstrate a 50–75% emissions reduction versus conventional clinker production and the company cites research indicating a zero‑carbon product is achievable with today’s technology. CEC is advancing its technology alongside university research (including EPSRC‑funded work) and industry partners through the Cement 2 Zero industrial demonstrator. The Cement 2 Zero consortium (a £6.5m InnovateUK‑funded initiative) includes AtkinsRéalis, Balfour Beatty, CELSA UK, Day Group, Materials Processing Institute and Tarmac. CEC plans to industrialise production at CELSA UK’s EAF facility in Cardiff, run industrial scale trials, deliver a real‑world construction demonstrator targeting low‑risk, non‑structural applications, and progress offtake agreements.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2024

PQShield develops post-quantum cryptography software and hardware, offering solutions intended to withstand future quantum-enabled attacks. The company offers a system-on-chip for hardware like smartcards and processors, a cryptographic SDK for mobile and server applications, and a toolkit for securing messaging services. Founded in Oxford by Dr. Ali El Kaafarani, PQShield works with industry partners and customers including AMD, Microchip Technologies, Collins Aerospace, Lattice Semiconductor, Sumitomo Electric, NTT Data and Mirise Technologies, and has worked with Nvidia. It also advises bodies such as the White House, European Parliament, the U.K. National Cyber Security Council and the World Economic Forum, and provides technology pro bono to the Signal Foundation. To meet industry demand and build hardware and related systems, the startup raised a further $37 million in a Series B and is using the funds to hire more talent and deepen customer and partner engagements. The company highlights its dense team of cryptographers and is preparing for imminent post-quantum standards from NIST; it has not disclosed a valuation for the round. PQShield builds "future-proof" post-quantum cryptographic products—software and hardware designed to secure data today and against future quantum threats. Its product formats include a system-on-chip for hardware like smartcards or processors, a cryptographic SDK for mobile and server apps, and a messaging toolkit for communications companies. The company works with governments, OEMs and private customers—Bosch is a disclosed customer—and contributes to standards development, including submissions to NIST. PQShield was spun out of research labs at Oxford and remains based in Oxford, and is staffed with numerous PhDs and researchers across the U.K., the U.S., France and the Netherlands. Financially, PQShield raised a $20M Series A to fund continued research, product development and hiring; it previously raised a $7M seed in 2020. The company plans to announce its first commercially available solutions and aims for its hardware and software offerings to work together or independently as customers require. PQShield develops cryptographic products designed to remain secure in a post‑quantum future, offering hardware and software solutions today that provide migration paths from current standards. For hardware it has designed a System on Chip (SoC) solution to be licensed to manufacturers; Bosch is named as its first OEM customer. For software it provides an SDK to secure messaging, protected by post‑quantum algorithms based on a Signal‑derived protocol. The company targets applications including messaging, keyless cars, connected IoT devices, cloud services, and sensitive systems used by financial and government entities. PQShield is a 2018 spin‑out from Oxford University and says it has the UK’s highest concentration of cryptography PhDs outside academia and classified agencies. It is also a contributor to the NIST process for new cryptographic standards and recently emerged from stealth after raising funding.

Led · Series A · Nov 2023

Advanced Electric Machines develops and manufactures rare earth- and magnet-free electric motors, with technology applicable across passenger cars, motorcycles, ATVs, trucks, buses, construction machinery and marine sectors. Its platform eliminates permanent magnets and rare earth materials and replaces copper windings with aluminium, aiming to reduce supply-chain risk while delivering competitive performance, efficiency and reduced weight. AEM's technology portfolio includes advanced control strategies, aluminium coils, and higher-speed, smaller, lighter designs that have been productionised. The company manufactures at a commercial-scale facility in Washington and is leveraging that capability to develop higher-torque products for demanding powertrain and industrial applications. The recent funding will support expansion of production capacity and accelerate next-generation product development. The platform was developed at Newcastle University and is supported by existing regional investors who have backed AEM through its evolution.

Led · Series B · Apr 2023

Hometree is a residential energy services business combining hardware installation, financing, repairs and ongoing maintenance on a single platform. It operates a network of products and services under three business divisions (Installation, Financing, Service and Maintenance) to support the full lifecycle of sustainable homeownership. The company plans to use new capital to finance solar panels, batteries and heat pumps in 35,000 UK homes. With the funding in place, Hometree is focusing on financing its own installations and working with companies across the energy supply chain to make it easier for homeowners to choose renewable energy options. It is partnering with renewable installers, energy utilities and hardware manufacturers and has agreed terms with Project Solar, So Energy and myenergi. Hometree is based in London, UK. Hometree, founded by Simon Phelan who has a private equity background and expertise in engineering and finance, helps homeowners accelerate the transition to net-zero. The company offers zero-deposit leases and low-interest, long-term loans for solar panels and battery systems, with heat pump options due during the summer. Payment plans can run up to 25 years for solar panels and are structured so customers can often “pay as they save.” Leases include an ongoing service and maintenance guarantee as standard. Hometree aims to install over 28,000 renewable energy systems in the next two years to meet surging consumer demand. It recently secured a £250 million debt financing from Barclays to scale its lease and loan products and fund installations. Hometree aims to make heat‑pump installation, boiler care and replacement as easy as booking an Uber. The company offers installation and in‑life repair and maintenance services alongside financing products and insurance services. It claims a network of more than 5,000 installers while owning seven installer businesses after recent acquisitions. Hometree has bought North Shields‑based Geowarmth and Kent‑based The Little Green Energy Company, which together have installed around 12,500 renewable systems over the last 10 years, employ 55 people and report combined revenues of £15 million. The business says the acquisitions and its financing capabilities will let it scale quickly through M&A to support homeowners in decarbonising their homes. Hometree positions itself to challenge incumbents such as Homeserve and British Gas as the UK market for heat pumps expands. The company cites the UK target of installing 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028 while noting recent installation rates remain far below that level. Hometree operates as a residential energy services challenger, originally active in the home emergency insurance/home cover market providing emergency heating, plumbing and electrical repairs. The company has shifted to supporting the lifecycle of sustainable homeownership, helping homeowners install, manage and finance renewable energy solutions to run their homes in a carbon-neutral way. Hometree raised $46M in a Series B to fund expansion and broaden its business reach. The business is led by Founder and CEO Simon Phelan. As part of its growth strategy the company acquired BeWarm, a green home improvement financing platform. BeWarm partners with local installers to offer Heat Lease Plans, mortgage further advances, and Green Home Loans to homeowners. Hometree is a tech-first home services company that began in the home heating market and has expanded into home cover/home emergency insurance. The company offers challenger home cover products marketed with a “No Claims, No Price Hikes” message and has struck exclusive partnerships with Good Energy, Pure Planet and So Energy. Demand accelerated during the COVID-19 lockdown, the business says, and it expects year-on-year growth in 2020 to be greater than 300%. Hometree reports few customers cancelling direct debits during lockdown and that its engineers were classified as key workers to attend emergencies. The company plans to harness IoT and smart-home hardware to move from a reactive to a proactive customer experience. Founder & CEO Simon Phelan has said the objective over the next 2–3 years is to become the leading challenger brand in the home cover market.