publication date: Jan 18, 2012
|
author/source: SPARK Impact
The £25m North West Fund
for Biomedical, managed by early-stage venture capital firm, SPARK Impact, has
made its tenth and eleventh investment in deals worth £100k.
Investing in medical
devices firms,
ESP Technology Limited and
Westco Medical Limited, SPARK has completed a
£50k Pathfinder for each.
The £25m
North West Fund
for Biomedical is part of the £185m North West Fund - an evergreen fund
provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF), to supply debt and equity funding to growing small and
medium sized enterprises in the North West of England.
ESP Technology, located in
Cheshire, sought investment to undertake further development work on its novel
polymer coating designed to improve the lifespan of artificial blood vessels
when used for haemodialysis.
CTO of ESP Technology, Dr
Chris Underwood said: "We are extremely pleased to receive this investment from
SPARK Impact who have been very supportive of our work. We are now looking
forward to being able to significantly move the development on."
The eleventh Pathfinder investment
was in Westco Medical and its NG-PoD device which aids in the positioning of
nasogastric feeding tubes.
The investment will be used
to complete initial prototype and develop a specific plan for the route to
market for the device. Work will also be done to map out the regulatory pathway
and continue to develop Intellectual Property around the device.
George Gallagher, CEO of
Wirral based, Westco Medical Limited said: "We are really excited to receive
the investment which will allow us to get a fully working prototype complete.
We expect to have enough data to look at a potential trial within six months
and begin the process of CE marking the device."
Dr Penny Attridge, Senior Investment Director at SPARK Impact and
manager of The North West Fund for Biomedical, said: "We are pleased to complete investments in ESP Technology
and Westco Medical. The work Chris and the team at ESP Technology have done to
date is very impressive and the application potential for the product once
commercialised both from a patient and commercial viewpoint is significant.
"Westco Medical has developed an excellent concept that addresses
a real market need, in an area that has legislative support. The market for the
device is extensive and George and the team have all the experience necessary
to get this product to market in a very short period of time.
Looking ahead to next year,
Dr Attridge adds: "We are still seeing a considerable number of opportunities
to invest in and have several deals which will complete before the end of the
year. We go into 2012 with a very healthy pipeline and are looking forward to a
successful second year of inspiring entrepreneurs in the North West."
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