UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund has closed its first investment (to be announced soon) originating from the Fund’s participation in the Innovate UK (IUK) Investment Accelerator pilot, a £6 million fund geared towards early-stage UK-based companies addressing major challenges in the areas of healthcare, life sciences and infrastructure.
The Accelerator pilot brings together institutional investors and the public sector to increase the investment pool for science based companies, thereby increasing their chance of bringing their innovations to market. It offers IUK match-funding grants to mitigate investor’s risk and allow investors to work alongside high-growth, early-stage entities.
The pilot includes a total of six UK investment partners, including UKI2S. By connecting both private investment and Innovate UK grant-funded opportunities, the Accelerator’s aim is to remove the need to find match funding, giving management teams more time to run the business rather than continually chasing investment. Additionally, the programme brings investors and companies together allowing access to investor networks, strategic support and access to new market opportunities.
Oliver Sexton, UKI2S Investment Director, said “An early-stage science company may have compelling technology but will have technical risk and require significant funds for prototyping, testing and initial trials to assess product usability and functionality. At such an early stage, even exceptional teams and revolutionary products struggle to raise private money and often rely upon public funds and grants. UKI2S is excited to be part of the IUK Accelerator which is specifically focussed on helping companies bridge this critical investment gap and speed up their route to market.
UKI2S has identified several further engineering biology, med tech and healthcare companies it will fund alongside IUK and will be announcing these investments in the coming months.