University of Leeds spinout IVFmicro has secured a £3.5 million pre-seed investment to advance a microfluidic device designed to improve embryo quality and numbers in IVF cycles.

Co-founded in 2018 by Dr Virginia Pensabene and Professor Helen Picton, the company will use the funding, led by Northern Gritstone with support from the Innovate UK Investor Partnerships Programme, to complete its next verification and validation phase ahead of trials on human embryos in fertility clinics.

The technology aims to address stubbornly low IVF success rates of around 25-30% for women under 35, partly driven by limitations in traditional embryo culture methods.

The business says its device can deliver a 10-15% improvement in embryo quality and quantity, potentially increasing the chances of implantation and pregnancy.