Northern Gritstone, the investment company scaling early-stage life sciences and technology companies in the North of England, is opening an office in San Francisco.
Chief executive Duncan Johnson said the move will give the company better access to US capital.
He said: “It means you can grow quicker, because the US is better at procuring, and their risk appetite for technology is higher. It allows us to recruit more talent into our businesses.
“UK companies trade at a discount in the US, and capital is good at finding opportunities. But you’ve got to make the effort to go and make it easy for them.”
Five of Northern Gritstone’s portfolio companies already have US investors, including B+ Series companies Pragmatic Semiconductor, Iceotope and Phagenesis.
A spokesman for the investor said: “Our first step is to recruit a venture partner on the ground in the Bay Area to give the rest of the portfolio a soft landing – a network, capital and business development from day one.
“The prize is real. Dealroom data shows UK companies backed by American investors typically raise larger rounds earlier and grow revenue four times faster over the two years after investment than peers backed only by UK money.
“Rooted in the North. Global in ambition. That’s how we proudly describe our portfolio companies.”
Active since May 2022, Northern Gritstone has already made 50 investments in some of the most exciting areas of development and future job creation in DeepTech and life sciences, including semiconductor design and manufacturing; novel materials; secure computing; AI; HealthTech; and gene therapies.
Many of its portfolio companies are spinouts from the Northern Arc universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield, which combined generate close to £800m in research funding annually.
The Northern Arc universities represent one of four globally competitive centres, alongside Oxford, Cambridge and London, which together form the UK’s Technology Diamond.