Northern Gritstone
Venture capitalPre-Seed–Growth · 6 people tracked
Investment thesis
Northern Gritstone invests in science and technology startups originating in the North of England, aiming to capitalize on the region's innovation potential. It focuses on visionary companies with strong intellectual property in deep technology and life sciences that can scale globally. The firm partners closely with the four Northern Arc universities of Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool, and also backs early-stage companies outside the university spinout ecosystem. It offers patient, long-term capital supporting companies from early stages through later growth, guided by a 'profit with purpose' philosophy, and provides wrap-around support to help founding teams build and scale their businesses.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.
Team · 6 people
from public directories
What they invest in
from 28 of 38 portfolio companiesDeep Tech ×13Hardware ×9Healthtech ×7New Materials ×6AI & Machine Learning ×5Biotech ×5Cleantech ×4Medical Devices ×4
HQs:United Kingdom×12
Investments · 38 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathadsilico builds generative AI technology that creates diverse virtual patient populations—digital models of human anatomy, physiology, and pathology—to run in silico trials that assess medical device safety and performance before human testing.
AI & Machine LearningHealthtechMedical Devices
Dr Nishant RavikumarinDr Zeike TaylorinProf Alejandro FrangiSheena Macphersonin
Co-investorsParkwalk Advisors
AmpliSi develops porous silicon battery anode material using a proprietary silane-free, low-temperature magnesiothermic process that converts silica into high-energy silicon anodes to replace graphite in lithium-ion batteries.
CleantechEnergyNew Materials
Ruth Sayers(CEO)
Co-investorsClean Growth Fund
Developer of a novel small molecule for treating chronic inflammatory diseases including Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
AssetCool builds robotic systems, including its Capacity-1 line robots, that apply capacity-enhancing coatings to existing overhead power lines to increase grid capacity without lengthy outages or reconductoring.
CleantechEnergyNew MaterialsRobotics
Jasmin Stewart(Head of People)Winter Wilson(Head of Marketing)Niall Coogan(CEO)
Co-investorsEnergy Impact PartnersKero Development PartnersMercia VenturesExtantia Capital
Auxetec develops patented liquid crystal elastomers with auxetic properties that resist impact, aimed at improving the durability and longevity of products in demanding applications.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechNew Materials
OLO Robotics builds products designed to simplify robotics development, aiming to make robotics accessible to users regardless of their level of expertise.
Developer ToolsEnterprise SoftwareRoboticsSaaSSheffield, GB
Co-investorsSyndicateRoom
Cavero Quantum develops lightweight post-quantum cryptography for constrained environments, offering key-exchange (Symmetrikey) and endpoint authentication (Authentikey) technologies that run on SIM cards, IoT sensors, and embedded devices.
CybersecurityIoTQuantum Computing
Co-investorsForesight
Crucible Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases.
BiotechHealthtech
Cliff Holloway(Chief Executive Officer)
Proprietary technology enabling high-level, localised gene expression to overcome crop engineering challenges.
Cytotrait develops novel traits for crops and food production using proprietary technology to reprogram chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes.
AgTechBiotech
Co-investorsUK Innovation & Science Seed Fund
Exciting Instruments builds the EI-FLEX benchtop platform, a single-molecule fluorescence instrument combining smFRET, FCS and FCCS to measure biomolecular interactions and dynamics directly in solution.
BiotechDeep TechHardware
Timothy Craggs(Founder and CEO)
Iceotope develops precision liquid cooling technology that uses dielectric fluid within sealed server chassis to cool all components, targeting AI and HPC hardware in data centers and edge environments.
CleantechDeep TechHardware
Co-investorsAster CapitalOmbu GroupSalica Investments
Co-investorsIQ Capital
Literal Labs builds ModelMill, a platform for training Logic-Based Networks (LBNs) — a logic-based AI architecture that replaces neural network floating-point operations to run faster and use less energy on CPUs, microcontrollers, and 32-bit processors without GPUs.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechIoT
Co-investorsGMG VenturesMercuri.vcSure Valley Ventures
MicroLub is a deep-tech ingredient company that develops protein-based biolubricant molecules which reduce molecular friction to replace fats and oils in food and personal care products while retaining fat-like mouthfeel and texture.
Deep TechFoodTechNew MaterialsLeeds, GB
Previously BOW; offers a software platform that handles robotics complexity so developers can focus on innovation.
Optalysys is a photonic computing company using silicon photonics to turn the optical layer into an arithmetic engine for high-performance computing.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductorsLeeds, GB
Co-investorsAnglia Capital GroupVerve Venturesimec.xpand
Opteran develops autonomy software for robots and machines by reverse-engineering neural algorithms from insect brains, using computational neuroscience rather than deep learning.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechRoboticsLondon, GB
James Marshall(Founder & Science Officer)Alex Cope(Co-founder & CTO)David Rajan(CEO & Co-founder)
Co-investorsEpisode1IQ Capital
Re-engineering insect brain patterns to power autonomous machines for complex visual and navigational challenges.
Partful provides a platform that turns OEMs' existing CAD and Bill of Materials into interactive 3D exploded electronic parts catalogs (EPC) and work instructions, helping technicians, dealers, and customers identify the correct parts and follow assembly and service procedures.
Advanced ManufacturingEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Pencil Biosciences develops a fully synthetic, modular, non-CRISPR gene editing platform that edits DNA without causing a break or nick.
BiotechDeep TechHealthtech
Co-investorsEMV CapitalFuture Planet CapitalMartlet CapitalOctopus VenturesUK Innovation & Science Seed Fund
Phagenesis develops the Phagenyx System, a medical device that uses pharyngeal electrical stimulation to restore swallowing control in stroke patients with dysphagia, reducing hospital stays and aspiration risk.
Digital HealthHealthtechMedical Devices
Co-investorsAphelion CapitalInnvotec Ltd.
Developing high-performance infrared sensors to improve laser rangefinder, LIDAR, fibre sensing and imaging systems.
Phlux Technology develops Noiseless InGaAs avalanche photodiode (APD) infrared sensors operating at 1550 nm that serve as drop-in replacements for traditional APDs.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Ben White(CEO)
Co-investorsOctopus Ventures
Pragmatic Semiconductor makes FlexICs, ultra-thin flexible integrated circuits built with thin-film transistor technology on flexible substrates for edge and item-level intelligence applications.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Co-investorsFuture Planet CapitalIn-Q-TelMaven Capital PartnersProsperity7 VenturesCambridge Innovation CapitalMilltrust International Group
Developer of an implanted electrotherapy device for treating brain cancer by targeting dividing cancer cells.
Co-investorsElbow Beach Capital
Deeptech company developing an AI healthcare training simulator for realistic patient interaction training.
Re:course AI builds guardrailed AI "digital personas" of subject-matter experts that let users have two-way conversations to access up-to-date knowledge, such as clinicians querying the latest research.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtech
Developing a highly sensitive material with direct conversion detectors to make X-ray equipment more efficient.
Silveray develops Digital X-ray Film (DXF®), a flexible detector under 1 mm thick that wraps around pipes and complex shapes to deliver digital radiography where rigid detectors cannot fit.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechHardware
Co-investorsCambridge Angels groupFuture Planet CapitalUK Innovation & Science Seed Fund
SimAnalytica provides AI-based spatial intelligence software, marketed as Compass: Engine, that ingests geospatial and document data into a knowledge graph for place-based analysis, climate adaptation, energy optimisation and geotechnical site modelling.
AI & Machine LearningClimate TechGovTech
Sitehop builds FPGA-powered hardware encryption devices that secure data in motion with sub-microsecond latency and quantum-ready (post-quantum) protection.
CybersecurityHardwareQuantum Computing
University of Manchester Innovation Factory commercialises intellectual property developed at the University of Manchester through spinout company creation and licensing deals.
Deep TechImpact & Social GoodManchester, GB
Principals & officers · per Companies House
what is this? ⓘSecretary · since 2023
Director · British · since 2025
Director · British · since 2020
Director · British · since 2022
Director · British · since 2022
Director · British · since 2026
Director · British · since 2021
Director · British · since 2021
Director · British · since 2021
Director · British · since 2021
+1 more officers on the register
Fund performance · per public LP disclosures
as of Sep 2025| Fund | Vintage | Committed | Net IRR | TVPI | DPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Gritstone LimitedLPs: West Yorkshire Pension Fund | — | — | — | 0.95x | 0.00x |
Source: public limited-partner disclosures (CalPERS, CalSTRS). Net IRR / TVPI / DPI as reported by the limited partner; a fund's early-year IRR is an interim estimate (J-curve).
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Northern Gritstone made?
- Northern Gritstone has 35 tracked investments.
- What stage does Northern Gritstone invest at?
- Northern Gritstone invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth stages.
- What sectors does Northern Gritstone focus on?
- Northern Gritstone focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Biotech, Cleantech, Deep Tech, Energy, Hardware, Healthtech, Longevity, Medical Devices, New Materials, SaaS, Semiconductors.
- Does Northern Gritstone lead rounds?
- Northern Gritstone typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
- Who does Northern Gritstone co-invest with?
- Northern Gritstone most often shares deals with Future Planet Capital, IQ Capital, Octopus Ventures, among 26 tracked co-investors.
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