Science Creates members claim >£33m of investment just six months into 2024

Over the past few years, factors such as rising interest rates and economic uncertainty have slowed investments into start-ups across Europe. Despite this rocky fundraising landscape, our community has continued to attract the pivotal support required to take their technologies to market and in the first half of 2024, Science Creates members collectively raised a staggering £33+ million. This is not only a remarkable feat given the current macroeconomic climate, but is also more than double our community-wide fundraising figure for this time in 2021 – £14.4 million – highlighting the trajectory and anticipated impact of deep tech start-ups in an increasingly complex world.

Spotlights

Meet the 10 start-ups who have secured a shared £33+ million to develop the next generation of technologies to improve lives across the globe:

Anaphite: £1.6 million

The expert chemists at Anaphite raised £1.6 million to accelerate the development of their dry-coating technology to reduce the cost of electric vehicle battery manufacturing – enabling low-cost, no-compromise sustainable transportation for everyone.

Delta.g: £2.4 million

Committed to supporting the UK’s strategic growth as a quantum authority, the quantum technology company secured a £2.4 million project to develop the next generation of gravity gradient sensors.

Ensilitech: £1.7 million

The specialist team raised £1.7m to develop the world’s first thermally stable mRNA vaccine as part of national efforts to tackle diseases with epidemic potential in low- and middle-income countries.

Folium Science: £350,000

The Guided Biotics® developers were awarded £350k to reduce ammonia emissions in poultry production as part of a national programme to boost the agricultural sector’s productivity, sustainability and growth.

IsomAb: £7.5 million

In a seed funding round backed by Science Creates’ VC arm, SCVC, and led by Boston-based cardiovascular specialist investor Broadview Ventures, the biotech company secured £7.5 million to accelerate its lead treatment candidate for peripheral arterial disease, ISM-001.

Kelpi: £4.3 million

The sustainable materials innovators raised £4.3 million to scale-up and roll-out their water-resistant coating to replace polluting fossil fuel plastics in food, drink and toiletries packaging.

KETS Quantum Security: £1.7 million

The technology experts secured a £1.7 million contract to develop their next-generation Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) solution and accelerate the UK’s leadership in the emerging global market for commercial quantum-safe communications.

LettUs Grow: £750,000

The indoor farming technology provider received over £750,000 in funding to support their project to revolutionise the UK’s agriculture landscape by linking AI with automation and control to improve indoor farming sustainability.

Nebu~Flow: £4.7 million

In a funding round led by SCVC, the medical equipment manufacturer raised £4.7 million to accelerate next-generation respiratory pharmaceuticals for respiratory disorders.

WASE: £8.5 million

The wastewater specialists raised £8.5 million to help businesses harness the power and value of their waste by maximising biogas generation – revolutionising the wastewater industry to protect the planet for future generations.

Deep tech investment: harnessing potential

In a world increasingly reliant on the technological breakthroughs offered by deep tech and where funding is crucial to start-up success, deep tech investment is the bridge between a groundbreaking scientific discovery and an invention which transforms lives and unlocks emerging markets.

Whilst the general fundraising landscape is a tricky one, equity investment in UK deep tech soared from £174m to more than £5bn in ten years and Bristol continues to claim an increasing chunk of regional and national deep tech companies – with this set to grow further upon the opening of Science Creates’ third incubator.

Speaking on the unfolding future of deep tech investment and our unique approach to backing game-changing companies, Dr Catherine Fletcher, Partner at SCVC, shared:

“Advanced technologies are driving the fourth industrial revolution and will underpin the most valuable companies of the next decade. Deep tech companies need specialist investment from people who can understand both the fundamental aspects of the technology and how to unlock that potential into a product for commercialisation. As exited founders, scientists and engineers ourselves, we are ideally positioned to support these companies and it is our mission to help transform their ideas to ultimately help people and the planet – that’s why we founded SCVC.”

Understanding that a comprehensive approach is vital for supporting start-ups across the range of challenges that they face, we are proud to back so many groundbreaking companies as they work to bring their innovations to the real world – from the provision of state-of-the-art facilities and training programmes to growing networks and expert investment.

Looking forward

As the year progresses, we look forward to sharing what the rest of 2024 brings in advancing our community’s shared mission to solve the world’s biggest challenges through deep tech.

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