Businesses Secure Record Equity Investment as Growth Continues

Scottish companies raised a record £85 million of equity investment during the past year, including a surge in international venture capital support, according to new figures released by Life Sciences Scotland. 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, 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.

Scotland’s life sciences firms have also been encouraged to take advantage of the £200 million Scottish-European Growth Co-Investment Programme (SEGCP) which typically offers up to £10m in match funding plus advice and introductions to institutional investors. Sealing equity deals has helped life sciences companies to cement their reputation as a major force in Business Expenditure on Research and Development (BERD), with the sector accounting for one quarter of Scotland’s total BERD.

Dave Tudor, Co-Chair of the Life Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership Group, said: “Securing equity investment is a crucial part of growing a life sciences business.Few companies will be able to fuel all their ambitions for growth through their own cashflow or bank lending, and so bringing on board external investors can be key to their expansion plans.”

“Such investment not only allows companies to extend their production and manufacturing capabilities, but also stokes their research and development work, creating the products and services we need for the future.”