Deeptech expands the world of the possible 

Long horizons.
Technical risk.
Markets that don’t exist yet.

Creating enduring businesses that change everything.

OrganOx creates in-vivo conditions for organs as they are prepared for implantation. Oxygen and blood are cycled through at internal body temperatures.
Liver transplants using the OrganOx metra happen every 3 hours in the US.

What we know

Groundbreaking science is the bedrock of great companies — but that is just where it starts.

  • >£0 million

    Capital deployed into deeptech

  • >0

    Portfolio companies backed

  • £0 million

    Capital returned to investors

  • Biggest exit

    $1.5 billion

    OrganOx achieved 19x multiple for Longwall fund investors

What we have learnt

We've watched great science stall for avoidable reasons: over‑engineered products, shaky foundations, optimistic forecasts, poor product‑market fit.

These are the traps.

We've seen enough to know how it works, when it works.

There is no one secret to success, but we've seen myriads of pitfalls to avoid.

  • Don't over-engineer

    Simplifying is difficult. Don’t try to fill the gaps with features or applied theory. We push for elegant, business-smart solutions.

  • Design for success

    We help to structure things right from the start to avoid surprises as you build.

  • Plan for the pivot

    The first plan rarely survives contact with reality. We help you build the resilience to adapt.

  • Know the real cost

    Founders underestimate time and cost. When you scale, so do the problems. Be ready.

WHAT WE BRING

Our know-how comes from >20 years of company-building.

Hardware, deeptech and hard science don’t fit technology venture timelines or playbooks. 

We bring repeated experience of success in building hardware companies. We make connections across the UK deeptech ecosystem. And we have the patience to stay the course.

  1. Focusing on the fundamentals

    Know your customer, understand their pain, be capital efficient. We provide hands-on value-add beyond capital at the earliest stages and when it’s needed.

  2. Creating durable operations

    We provide frameworks, governance structures and practical processes for complex business challenges.

  3. Supporting leadership with leadership

    We’re willing to lead actively and engage deeply during the most critical moments.

  4. Recognising risk of repeating patterns

    Our long-term experience helps anticipate risks and provide guidance whilst nurturing the upside. We help our companies navigate out of challenges so they can get on with commercial building.

What we need

Companies we invest in have:

  • Valuable markets

    Big enough margin sustaining opportunity for an exit to achieve target returns of at least ½ the fund or 10x the capital in a reasonable timeframe.

  • Unique technology with rich pivot and future development potential

    Strong moats; applications that don’t require pushing up against limits of the possible; technical challenges that have risk but not fundamental uncertainty; and the potential for significant future development beyond initial applications.

  • Leadership that is close to its customers

    We expect our companies to always be talking to their customers, understanding their workflows, their needs, their decision making, their constraints. Talk – then talk some more.

  • Capital requirements that suit our fund size

    Potential to build lean, at least until the core business hypothesis is proven; and co-investors to help us build.

Cobalt Light Systems harnessed the random walk of photons bouncing through materials to measure through barriers, discriminating the chemical composition of the contents of a container from its container without opening it.
Their devices make flights more secure, globally, every day.

How we invest

Lead investor in early-stage IP-protected ventures at the edges of science and technology.

  • UK-centred and sector-specific

    Complex solutions in: advanced manufacturing, life sciences, medical technologies, defence, clean energy, or adjacent sectors.

  • Pre-Seed or Seed

    We back businesses without a proven market that have complicated development cycles.

  • Up to £1.5 M initial investment

    We will lead from the start and follow on when you grow.