Life sciences and DeepTech investment firm Northern Gritstone, has raised £50m in funding to bring its total permanent capital to £362m.
£35m of the new funding commitments come from Northern LGPS, the collective asset pool for Greater Manchester, Merseyside and West Yorkshire Pension Funds, with a further £15m boost from new investors Fulcrum Asset Management and Aviva.
The Manchester-based venture capital firm has also announced the appointment of Greater Manchester Pension Fund assistant director Paddy Dowdall to its board as non-executive director.
Active since May 2022, the company has already made 32 investments in early-stage businesses in the North of England, expanded its investment team and built NG Innovation Services, its venture building ‘toolkit’ offering.
It also launched its accelerator program NG Studios as it looks to support areas of development and future job creation in its specialist sectors.
Northern Gritstone chair, Lord Jim O’Neill, said: “We are very grateful for this further support from investors in our journey to develop world winning businesses in the North of England originating from our University ecosystem and contributing to the future of higher value added activity and the North’s productivity.”
Northern Gritstone chief executive, Duncan Johnson, added: “This new fundraise backed by Northern LGPS, Fulcrum and Aviva is testimony to our ability to create the world-leading businesses of tomorrow based on world-class innovation that exists in the North of England.”
Fulcrum Asset Management executive director, David Merton, continued: “We are delighted to form a long-term partnership with Northern Gritstone. Our venture capital strategy is built around identifying and backing leading hubs of innovation.
“It became clear during our due diligence that Northern Gritstone’s design and focus on spin-outs from leading universities in the North of England strongly aligns with this.
“We see immense potential in their ambition to cultivate a dynamic community of science and technology businesses across the North – a vision that we are proud to support.”
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