Participated · Series A · Nov 2024

Little Journey offers a personalised platform that prepares and supports children and their families through medical journeys, combining evidence-based practices with clinician and young-people input. The app is used in over 100 hospitals across 11 countries, has localised content in 20 languages, and has supported thousands of young patients. The platform covers support for 12 procedures (including MRI, mental health and neurodevelopment assessment, and blood tests), reports a 25% adoption rate within the NHS, and a 97% family satisfaction rate. Little Journey partners with global pharmaceutical companies and CROs to improve paediatric clinical trial recruitment, adherence, and completion. Future plans include scaling globally with a focus on the US, enhancing scalable content, interoperability, and data-collection capabilities, and improving app accessibility for children with disabilities. The company aims to mature its systems and product security to support broader global adoption. Little Journey provides an app designed to help children reduce hospital anxiety through engaging, interactive, age-appropriate content. The app aims to psychologically prepare and support families throughout healthcare interactions. The company also offers a web portal for healthcare staff to configure app content, build virtual patient pathways, and edit key information in near real time. Little Journey intends to use the €2.8m funding to expand internationally and further develop the product. The round was led by Octopus Ventures. The company was founded by Dr Chris Evans and Sophie Copley and is based in London, UK. Little Journey builds a mobile app to help children prepare for surgery by providing virtual tours of hospitals, interactive animations explaining each stage, games, relaxation guides and resources for parents. The platform has been shown to reduce anxiety by 30% in high-risk patients such as those with autism or ADHD, cut same-day operation cancellations by 42%, and improve recovery times by 30%. It is currently used in over 50 hospitals worldwide and recently won a contract with a large clinical research organisation to support participants in an international paediatric trial. The Leeds-based company was launched by Dr Chris Evans, an anaesthetist, together with product designer Sophie Copley; Dr Evans serves as CEO. The new funding will be used to create 12 new jobs, further develop the technology (including more personalised solutions) and drive uptake in the UK and overseas. As part of the investment the company appointed Dr Nicolaus Henke as Chair.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2023

Upfront Diagnostics is a Cambridge-based healthcare company focused on discovering novel biomarkers for medical diagnosis. It has developed LVOne, a point-of-care rapid blood test designed to detect large vessel occlusion (LVO) strokes within 15 minutes to help paramedics and community health professionals identify stroke out of hospital. LVOne was validated on 270 patients at the Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospital in Newcastle. The company intends to use the £1.6m seed funding to scale its technology, improve the test's accuracy for identifying large artery strokes, expand its team and prepare for clinical approval. Detecting LVO in the ambulance allows patients to be fast-tracked to thrombectomy-specialized hospitals for rapid imaging and surgical intervention, which can save lives and reduce severity of disability. Development of the test has been supported by Innovate UK, Newcastle University, the Academic Health Science Network, NIHR, SBRI Healthcare, the Stroke Association and NHS Foundation Trust.

Led · Equity · Dec 2022

LatchAid is an award-winning app that uses 3D interactive technology and an AI-powered virtual companion, combined with 1-to-1 specialist support and virtual support communities, to provide scalable breastfeeding and early parenthood support 24/7. The product is positioned to address health inequalities in maternity care, including perinatal mental health, risk identification, stratification, intervention, and post-discharge support. LatchAid cites an NHS pilot across four integrated care systems that demonstrated a twofold (x2) increase in exclusive breastfeeding rates at six weeks postnatally compared with the national average. The company was awarded £100,000 from SBRI Healthcare's Competition 20 Phase 1 development fund to support feasibility work. The funding is intended to accelerate app development and to build and test the offering over the next six months in partnership with SBRI Healthcare and the Academic Health Science Networks. LatchAid is a digital platform that uses 3D interactive visuals and AI to help parents learn breastfeeding skills and troubleshoot latching problems. Users can access webinars, interact with the app’s Anya AI and lactation consultants, and join virtual peer support groups. The app offers 24/7 digital support and is available in 84 countries via the App Store. LatchAid completed a pilot with 12 NHS trusts and the HCRG Group, demonstrating positive health economic benefits. Founder Dr Chen Mao Davies built the product from personal experience and has received multiple grants and awards to support development. The company is using recent seed funding to expand the app and its services for breastfeeding and early parenthood support.

Led · Grant · Jan 2020

Mogrify develops a proprietary platform to identify transcriptomic and epigenetic cell switches that enable direct in vivo transdifferentiation between source and target human cell types. The company deploys next-generation sequencing and a human gene regulatory network‑centric approach to design in vivo reprogramming therapies. Its pipeline targets degenerative diseases of the eye, ear and pancreas, aiming to address vision loss, hearing loss and diabetes. Mogrify is advancing multiple programs through pre-clinical translation while optimizing its platform and working with biopharma collaborators. The company intends to use recent funding to progress a lead program into first‑in‑human studies and to deliver milestones needed for a Series B in 2024/25. Mogrify is headquartered in Cambridge, England. Mogrify, based in Cambridge, England, focuses on transforming ex vivo cell therapy development and pioneering in vivo reprogramming therapies. Its proprietary MOGRIFY and epiMOGRIFY platforms systematically identify transcriptomic and epigenetic cell switches to drive efficient and stable cellular reprogramming. The company is advancing immuno-oncology and ophthalmology programs, including iPSC-derived allogeneic cell therapies targeting hematological and solid malignancies and in vivo approaches aimed at retinal degeneration. Mogrify completed a Series A with a second close of $17 million, bringing total Series A proceeds to $33 million; funds will support platform development and IND-enabling studies. Proceeds are intended to advance lead assets toward the clinic and to address scalability and manufacturing in ex vivo therapies. The company also announced appointments to its board and observer roles tied to its progression. Mogrify applies a big-data, gene-regulatory network approach to identify conversion factors for producing clinically suitable cell types via direct cellular conversion. Its platform has been used to identify transcription factors and culture conditions needed to convert various cell types into mature chondrocytes. The company is developing both in vitro scalable production of chondrocytes for autologous and allogeneic implantation and an in vivo reprogramming therapy aimed at reversing osteoarthritis pathophysiology. Mogrify recently received additional Phase II funding to progress its regenerative cartilage therapy through preclinical safety and efficacy studies in vivo. The work is being advanced in collaboration with Dr. Wael Kafienah’s laboratory at the University of Bristol, and the company says it is now planning for clinical stages of development. The announcement cites Cambridge, England as the company’s location. Mogrify has developed a proprietary direct cellular conversion technology that transforms mature human cells into other cell types without passing through pluripotent or progenitor states. The company is deploying this platform to develop novel cell therapies addressing musculoskeletal, autoimmune, cancer immunotherapy, ocular and respiratory diseases and to build a broad IP position around scalable, safe and efficacious cell conversions. Mogrify commercializes the platform through development and out‑licence of internally developed cell therapy assets, licensing of novel cell conversion IP, and formation of joint ventures for non‑core areas. The company launched in February 2019 after a $3.7M seed round and has secured grants from Innovate UK and SBRI Healthcare. It recently closed an additional $16M funding round, bringing total capital raised to over $20M, with proceeds earmarked for internal cell therapy programmes and development/out‑licence of novel IP. Mogrify is expanding its Cambridge Science Park facility headcount to about 60 staff, recruiting up to 40 commercial, operational and scientific roles to support an expanding internal pipeline and collaborator projects. Mogrify applies a decade of academic research and a big data–science approach using next-generation sequencing and gene-regulatory data to identify factors that convert one mature cell type into another without passing through a pluripotent or progenitor state. Its core product is a predictive platform and associated IP that identifies optimal combinations of transcription factors or small molecules to drive direct reprogramming. The company plans to commercialize its technology via IP licensing, product development, and both internal and partnered drug-development programs. Mogrify says the approach is intended to address efficacy, safety and scalability challenges in current cell therapy development and manufacturing. Management highlights large addressable markets including a projected $30 billion cell therapy market and specific end-user markets such as cardiac repair and cartilage regeneration. The leadership team includes co-founders Julian Gough, Jose Polo and Owen Rackham and is chaired by Professor Steve Jackson; Darrin M. Disley was appointed CEO as part of the announced seed close.