Scotland’s life sciences sector secures record equity investment

Scotland’s life sciences companies have raised a record £85m in equity investment during the past year, including a surge in international venture capital support, according to new figures released by Life Sciences Scotland ahead of the industry’s annual awards ceremony.

The landmark figure represents a 27% rise on the £67m investment made during the previous 12 months. Companies that have secured funding in the past year include AdoRx, BioFilm, Calcivis, CareSourcer, Current (formerly Snap40), DYSIS Medical, Exscientia, Invizius, ScotBio and Ubiquigent.

In 2017/2018, the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise (SE), have invested almost £8m and leveraged almost £104m in the Life Sciences and Chemical Sectors. This covers both SE directly managed and externally managed funds and represents investments into 41 companies, one of which contributed £79m of private sector leverage.

Venture capital firms and business angel groups that have provided funding to Scottish companies during the year, include MMC Ventures, Accelerated Digital Ventures, Epidarex, IP Group, Mercia Fund Managers, Archangel, Par Equity, Lundbeckfonden Ventures, GT Healthcare Partners, Kelvin Capital, Julz LLP and Legal & General. The Scottish Investment Bank has also supported a range of Scottish companies in the life sciences sector, with participation in notable deals, including the successful $8m fundraise by Current and the £3.15m of follow-on funding raised by Calcivis.

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