Participated · Seed · Jul 2026

Pixel-Flo is commercialising semiconductor photonics and display-industry research from the University of Sheffield to develop manufacturing technology for MicroLED displays. Its core process, called Continuous-Flow Mass Transfer, is based on fluidic self-assembly and is intended to enable higher-throughput production while reducing processing costs and material use. The company aims to address key manufacturing barriers that have limited broader adoption of MicroLED technology, which offers advantages in brightness and energy efficiency. Pixel-Flo plans industrial scale-up, team expansion, new lab and office facilities, and international growth following its seed raise. The company was founded by Dr Rick Smith, Dr Suneal Ghataora and Simon Jones and secured £5.25M in seed funding to support these plans.

Led · Seed · Jun 2026

Houdini Bio was founded in 2025 out of Cambridge research and applies machine learning-driven software to redesign therapeutic DNA so it avoids silencing by the cell's defence machinery. The company aims to increase durability of gene and cell therapies by predicting and engineering DNA sequences that bypass the HUSH complex. Houdini Bio reports preclinical data showing more than tenfold increases in gene expression relative to current leading approaches and says it reached technical milestones in a third of the expected time. Founders include Jonathan Cohen-Gold, who discovered the molecular workaround during his PhD at the University of Cambridge, and Lee Dunham, formerly of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. Financially, the startup has secured roughly £1.5M via a mix of non-dilutive grants and an oversubscribed pre-seed round. Houdini Bio plans to use the funds to grow its team and establish co-development partnerships with pharmaceutical companies.

Participated · Seed · May 2026

Scarlet Therapeutics develops red blood cell therapies produced from immortalized cell lines to create scalable, off-the-shelf biologic products. Its lab-grown RBCs have, in preclinical studies, matured and circulated in vivo with a half-life comparable to donated red blood cells. The company modifies RBCs to convert toxic metabolites and is targeting indications including hyperammonemia and hyperoxaluria. Because it uses immortalized master cell banks, Scarlet aims to avoid donor-sourced scalability and reproducibility issues and to manufacture at large scale. Scarlet plans quarterly dosing of its RBC products and is advancing process development and regulatory interactions to support a clinical path. The recent £3.2 million seed raise will fund animal studies in three indications and help position the company for a follow-on financing once a lead program is selected.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2025

Delta.g is a Birmingham-based quantum technology spin-out from the University of Birmingham that builds quantum sensors engineered for real-world deployment. Its proprietary devices provide significant gains in precision, portability and reliability, enabling quantum-grade geospatial data collection. Early trials have demonstrated value across infrastructure monitoring, transportation, and other dual-use government and commercial scenarios. The hardware is paired with a data and analytics layer that integrates sensor outputs directly into customers’ decision-making workflows. With newly raised capital the company plans to expand its technical team, scale manufacturing capacity and deliver pilot field systems through key partners. It also intends to advance its analytics platform to support broader adoption. To date, Delta.g has secured £4.6 million in seed funding; the article did not disclose additional operating metrics such as revenue or user numbers.

Led · Seed · Aug 2025

PhovIR is a University of Manchester spinout building ultra-compact, silicon-based near-infrared (NIR) sensors using MEMS and configurable software to detect the “optical fingerprint” of solids, liquids and gases. Its platform is designed to be lightweight, scalable and affordable so a single configurable chip can replace multiple sensors. Target applications cited include drink-spiking detection, food-contamination and ripeness sensing in agriculture, pollution monitoring and industrial safety. The company completed Northern Gritstone’s NG Studios pre-seed programme to sharpen its go-to-market strategy. PhovIR plans to expand its team, accelerate product development and commercialisation, and move toward large-scale production. The company says the technology aims to reduce device cost and complexity while enabling new digital diagnostics and environmental-sensing use cases.