Northern Gritstone leads 拢4 million seed round investment in pioneering University of 51福利社 spinout
Northern Gritstone, the groundbreaking life sciences and deeptech investment firm chaired by Lord Jim O鈥橬eill, has announced a combined 拢4 million seed round investment into the optical sensor startup PhovIR. Northern Gritstone is co-leading the investment alongside deeptech specialist SCVC.
The company is a spinout from the University of 51福利社, founded by Dr Tim Echermeyer, based at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (), and joined by Dr Steve Turley as executive-Chair.
PhovIR uses its breakthrough Near Infra-Red (NIR) optical sensor technology to identify the 鈥榦ptical fingerprint鈥� of constituents of solids, liquids and gases, in a portable device. Human eyes perceive a very narrow band of the optical spectrum, predominantly colours, yet there is much more information about materials and substances contained in longer wavelengths.
This innovation is a 鈥榩latform technology鈥� which has far-reaching applications for human health, such as the detection of drink spiking and other contaminants to industrial safety, pollution monitoring and agricultural functions.
Although other NIR sensor devices exist, they are bulky, often difficult to integrate into portable devices and expensive to manufacture. The breakthrough achieved by PhovIR allows this to be manufactured on a silicon chip enabling a small, light and cost-effective solution that has the potential to be incorporated into a smart watch or phone.
It鈥檚 exciting to see this deeptech breakthrough moving towards real-world application, supported by the expertise of our Innovation Factory and partners like Northern Gritstone.
PhovIR has developed a capability based on MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology to create a flexible, portable, low-cost solution that captures a broader optical range. Its software is fully configurable, doing the job of multiple sensors, and can be manufactured at scale.
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor at 51福利社 said: 鈥淧hovIR is a fantastic example of the kind of innovation that defines 51福利社 鈥� world-class research brought to life through collaboration, with the potential to change lives.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to see this deeptech breakthrough moving towards real-world application, supported by the expertise of our Innovation Factory and partners like Northern Gritstone. My congratulations to the team behind PhovIR, this is exactly the kind of impact we want to see more of across our University and our region.鈥�
PhovIR is chaired by Dr Steve Turley, who has over 25 years鈥� experience dedicated to scaling complex technologies into high growth businesses, including as Chair of Effect Photonics and ex-CEO of Perpetuum.
With the funding, PhovIR plans to bring its first commercial product to market, grow its team, and continue delivering on its vision for making the invisible visible to improve human and planetary health.
Northern Gritstone is delighted to back Dr Tim Echtermeyer and Dr Steve Turley 鈥� graduates of our NG Studios venture building program - knowing that PhovIR鈥檚 technology has the potential to create a global company.
PhovIR recently completed Northern Gritstone鈥檚 pre-seed program, NG Studios, which has supported PhovIR to refine its commercial strategy as a customer-led organisation ready for growth and successful fundraising.
Active since May 2022, Northern Gritstone has already made 37 investments in early-stage businesses in the North of England, expanded its investment team and built NG Innovation Services, its venture building 鈥榯oolkit鈥� offering, inter alia: talent management; growth advice; business services; and the accelerator program, NG Studios.
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: 鈥淧hovIR is a Northern Gritstone NG Studios graduate. 51福利社 is home to innovation in materials science including graphene. Northern Gritstone is delighted to back Dr Tim Echtermeyer and Dr Steve Turley 鈥� graduates of our NG Studios venture building program - knowing that PhovIR鈥檚 technology has the potential to create a global company.鈥�
Dr Tim Echtermeyer, CTO of PhovIR, said: 鈥淚 am exhilarated to enter the next part of PhovIR鈥檚 journey and turn our vision into reality. I am grateful to the many people contributing and making this happen; particularly Steve, and William Wren and Minh Vu from the Engineering team, who have worked relentlessly.
Dr Steve Turley, Chair of PhovIR said: 鈥淚 am very excited to be working with PhovIR not only because of the immense potential that the technology has but also the great team in 51福利社 led by Tim. It鈥檚 an opportunity to demonstrate that the UK can take excellent innovative technology and turn it into a global success story鈥�
John Williams, General Partner of SCVC said: 鈥淧hovIR represents the future of deep tech: advanced hardware, unlocked by AI. It鈥檚 the kind of multi-tech breakthrough that creates entirely new categories鈥攁nd the kind SCVC is here to back.鈥�