Edinburgh-based bioinformatics company, Fios Genomics, which helps pharmaceutical and biotech companies to analyse the large amounts of data generated during drug development, has announced a strategic partnership with one of the world’s largest contract research organisations, Charles River Laboratories.

Elder, a leading care home alternative, has raised another £8.2m funding round as its technology-enabled live-in care service gains nationwide popularity, bringing the total raised to £16.5m.

Elder is one of the UK's fastest-growing startups and has delivered more than 350,000 days of care in more than 300 towns and cities across the UK since 2016 – with the Outer Hebrides being the only remaining area where care is yet to be delivered.

Ori Biotech Ltd, an innovator in Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) manufacturing, has successfully closed a $9.4M (£7M) seed round which will be used to bring their innovative manufacturing platform to market. The Ori platform will deliver scalable solutions to flexibly address the critical clinical and commercial manufacturing needs of CGT developers.

 The investor syndicate is comprised of some of the UK’s leading venture investors including Amadeus Capital Partners, Delin Ventures, Kindred Capital and a London-based family office, alongside a group of angel investors who have supported the company since inception.

Foresight has invested £2 million investment as part of a £3.3 million round into award-winning novel thin film ultrasound technology company Novosound Ltd. 

The Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund led the round, investing £1.5 million alongside £500,000 from the Foresight Scottish Growth Fund, financed by the Scottish Growth Scheme through a combination of Scottish Government funds and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and £1.3 million from existing shareholders including Par Equity, Kelvin Capital, Gabriel Investments, the University of the West of Scotland, and the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise.

UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), Catapult Ventures’ GM&C Life Sciences Fund and Jonathan Milner have invested in Pencil Biosciences, a novel gene modulation company based at Alderley Park, Cheshire. A further investment by o2h Ventures anticipated shortly will complete a seed round of £500k that will enable the Company to establish proof of concept for its innovative gene modification technology. 

 WSR Medical Solutions Limited (‘Rothband’), a specialist manufacturer and distributor of x-ray protective equipment for use in radiology environments, has been sold via a management buyout led by company Managing Director and existing shareholder, Paul Dixon.

Beechbrook Capital, the leading SME private debt fund lender, has appointed Conor Molloy as chairman of its new Irish SME fund which has made its first investment in the Republic of Ireland. Beechbrook Capital Ireland SME I is providing a €7.5 million finance package for Bio-Medical Research Limited (BMR), a world leader in electrical muscle stimulation technology for the fitness and wellness sector.

Foresight Group has made a £3 million investment into Biotherapy Services Limited, a biopharmaceutical company specialising in regenerative medicine for the treatment of complex wounds.  One of its products is currently undergoing a clinical trial for treating chronic diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).  

Visionable, the healthcare technology company providing a single video collaboration platform that enables clinicians to deliver better patient care, has raised £9.1m, following a 50% oversubscribed funding round, valuing the company at £47.6m.

Led by West Hill Capital, which has a reputation for backing British companies that are making a real difference, the funding round signals the next stage in the growth of the British health start-up. Having seen a busy 2019, which involved the trial of a connected ambulance with O2, the latest funds will allow Visionable to build on this momentum and continue to have a positive impact globally on the lives of patients and clinicians.

Birmingham-based Linear Diagnostics Limited (LDL) has secured £2m of investment from MEIF and other investors to develop new platform technology for medical diagnostic testing.

Swansea based Medical Connections Limited has successfully completed a management buy-out.

The medical imaging software toolkit company was founded by the late Doctor David Harvey in 1998. As a consultant radiologist, he was passionate about the development of healthcare IT to deliver better patient care.  The Company is a well-established medical imaging toolkit provider and has been recognised as a global leader in facilitating the development of healthcare IT systems to promote interoperability.

Flarin Holdings Limited has completed its first round of fund-raising by IW Capital. Flarin Holdings was recently demerged from Infirst Healthcare Limited in order to provide greater focus on the rapid commercialisation of Flarin.  Flarin is a unique and patent protected lipid formulated ibuprofen which at a dose of 1200 mg/day has shown to be as effective as 2400mg/day of standard liquid ibuprofen capsules in patients with acute joint pain. Flarin’s unique lipid formulation also helps to shield the stomach from damage.