a year ago

Empirical Ventures Raises £8.25M for Deep Science Fund

  • Empirical Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by alumni of Bristol spinout Ziylo, has raised £8.25m for its deep science fund, S/EIS

  • The firm wants to raise a total of £10M to provide more support to early-stage deep science startups

  • The firm has received £5M from the British Business Investments Regional Angels Programme and £3.25M from other investors

  • The firm aims to de-risk early-stage investments for their investors and co-investors by providing due diligence and support to startups in life sciences, advanced materials, photonics and quantum hardware, robotics and automation, agchem/tech and deeptech

  • Co-founders Dr Johnathan Matlock and Dr Ben Miles have a track record in deep science scaling and investing in the UK, and met at the University of Bristol spinout Ziylo in 2016, where they were part of the core scientific team

  • Ziylo was later acquired by Novo Nordisk in a deal worth over $800 million.

      • ProblemTechnology

      "Early-stage deep science startups are often difficult to diligence and value due to their novelty, which makes it challenging to attract investment and hinders the growth of the UK's deeptech ecosystem."

      Solution

      "Empirical Ventures provides due diligence expertise and funding for deep science startups, helping de-risk investments for investors and co-investors and supporting the development of innovative technologies with the potential to address global challenges like climate change, resource scarcity, and healthcare access."

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