Participated · Equity · Jul 2021

Reacta Biotech is a Deeside, North Wales, UK‑based company that produces pharmaceutical‑grade clinical diagnostic kits for food allergy testing, notably oral food challenges (OFCs). Led by CEO Dr Paul Abrahams, the business manufactures OFCs for peanut, egg and milk and positions these as the gold‑standard test for diagnosing food allergies. The company recently secured MHRA approval to manufacture to cGMP at its North Wales site and won a multimillion‑pound commercial contract to supply a top‑five global pharmaceutical company’s clinical trials over two years. Reacta intends to use the £2.9M funding to scale up manufacture of its current product range, extend its product portfolio, expand its specialist team and expedite development of enhanced packaging solutions. The round was led by Praetura Ventures with participation from the Development Bank of Wales, Perscitus, Jon Moulton’s family office and Reacta’s management team. The investment follows earlier Development Bank of Wales support totaling £875k over the prior two years.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2019

Atom is a mobile, app-based bank that offers mortgages and savings via its app and provides secured business lending for small and medium-sized enterprises. The company offers customer support by phone, chat, email and social channels. Launched in 2016 and based in Durham, Atom recently reported its first full year of operating profit. FY23 results showed 62% revenue growth, customer numbers doubling to 224,000, and savings deposits rising to £6.6bn. The company says its current quarterly run-rate is generating +£100m of annualised net interest income and +£25m of operating profit. Since launch Atom has lent more than £4bn to UK homeowners and over £1bn to small businesses. Atom bank operates an app-based bank that offers mortgages and savings products through its mobile app, alongside secured business lending for small and medium-sized enterprises. The bank provides customer support via phone, chat, email and social channels. Launched in April 2016 and led by CEO Mark Mullen, Atom has grown to a team of over 470 people. The company is based in Durham and in 2022 signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with Durham University to progress research and diversity initiatives. Financially, Atom has been actively fundraising, having raised more than £100m over the last 12 months and using new proceeds to fund ongoing growth and development of the bank. Atom is a digital, app-based bank that launched operations in April 2016 and offers Fixed Saver accounts, an Instant Saver, secured business lending for SMEs and an automated mobile mortgage proposition. The company has a team of over 400 people and has continued to grow revenues while tightly controlling costs. Atom delivered its first monthly operating profit during Q2 and is pursuing a drive to IPO. Over the past 12 months the lender has raised more than £115m. The bank continues to expand its retail and SME products via its mobile-first platform. Atom Bank is a UK digital challenger bank launched in April 2016. It has loaned £2.8 billion to UK mortgage customers since launch and plans to grow lending to SMEs on its balance sheet to over £700 million by the end of March 2021. The bank is raising £40 million (about €46.4 million) from existing investors to support that growth. Existing investors named include BBVA, Toscafund, and Woodford Patient Capital Trust; Atom has raised about £450 million to date. CEO Mark Mullen said the capital raise will allow the company to continue to progress towards profitability and to improve efficiency and engagement. The firm is planning a public listing as early as next year and is targeting the 2022/23 financial year for an IPO. Atom Bank is a UK challenger bank focused on mobile-first savings accounts, residential mortgages and small-business lending, targeting mainly millennial customers. It has been migrating its core banking technology to Thought Machine’s Vault platform to move operations to the cloud and reduce running costs. The bank plans to expand its product range (including Instant Access savings in the autumn) and is hiring, with 50 new North East roles planned. Operational metrics show total lending up 76% year-over-year to £2.4 billion, with deposits of £1.8 billion (up from £1.4 billion). Atom reports weekly applications of up to £20 million for business loans and £10 million for residential mortgages. The company was co-founded by Anthony Thomson and positions itself to compete with other UK challenger banks.

Led · Equity · Jan 2018

Pyreos develops and manufactures thin-film pyroelectric (passive infrared) sensors. Its sensors are primarily used for gas and flame sensing, food safety, and monitoring oil and fuel in engines. The company’s technology was originally developed by Siemens and Pyreos was spun out of Siemens in 2007. Pyreos is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It intends to use the £1.7m funding for further commercial expansion. The latest investment brings total funding since 2015 to almost £7m. Pyreos develops ultra-low power consumption infrared sensor technology for consumer, industrial and environmental sensor products. It has developed high-performance MEMS-based sensors that enable a diverse range of products, including gesture sensors, oil sensors for wind-turbine monitoring, laser measurement sensors, gas sensors and energy-efficiency products. The company holds over 100 patents and patent applications protecting its thin film pyroelectric infrared sensor technology. Pyreos is a technology spin-out from Siemens and is led by CEO Jeff Wright. The company raised $4m in funding to support international expansion. It is based in Edinburgh, United Kingdom and was founded in 2007. Pyreos develops patented thin-film technology with applications across the infrared sensor industry. It produces infrared sensor array–based products and works with manufacturing partners across the UK, Germany and Europe. The company intends to use recent equity funding to strengthen its global network of channel partners and to continue expanding its customer base. Pyreos was founded in July 2007 and is based in Edinburgh, UK. Recent corporate developments include adding Tony Lear, a 40-year veteran of the electronics and semiconductor industries, as Non Executive Chairman.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2014

Datacentred provides dedicated colocation capacity and an Open Source cloud compute and storage platform. Founded in 2012 and based in Salford, UK, the company is building data centres to help rebalance the UK’s internet infrastructure away from London, where over 90% of internet traffic is currently routed. It is completing its first site at MediaCityUK and plans to continue developing its open-source cloud platform. The company intends to use the new funding to roll out and complete that first site and to continue platform development. Following the investment, Bill Enevoldson will serve as Chairman of the company.