Northern Gritstone, the groundbreaking life sciences and deeptech investment firm chaired by Lord Jim O'Neill, has announced a combined £4 million seed round investment into the optical sensor startup PhovIR. Northern Gritstone is co-leading the investment alongside deeptech specialist SCVC.
The company is a spinout from the University of Manchester, founded by Dr Tim Echermeyer, based at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), and joined by Dr Steve Turley as executive-Chair.
PhovIR uses its breakthrough Near Infra-Red (NIR) optical sensor technology to identify the 'optical fingerprint' of constituents of solids, liquids and gases, in a portable device. Human eyes perceive a very narrow band of the optical spectrum, predominantly colours, yet there is much more information about materials and substances contained in longer wavelengths.
This innovation is a 'platform technology' which has far-reaching applications for human health, such as the detection of drink spiking and other contaminants to industrial safety, pollution monitoring and agricultural functions.
Although other NIR sensor devices exist, they are bulky, often difficult to integrate into portable devices and expensive to manufacture. The breakthrough achieved by PhovIR allows this to be manufactured on a silicon chip enabling a small, light and cost-effective solution that has the potential to be incorporated into a smart watch or phone.
PhovIR has developed a capability based on MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology to create a flexible, portable, low-cost solution that captures a broader optical range. Its software is fully configurable, doing the job of multiple sensors, and can be manufactured at scale.
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor at The University of Manchester said: "PhovIR is a fantastic example of the kind of innovation that defines The University of Manchester - world-class research brought to life through collaboration, with the potential to change lives.
"It's exciting to see this deeptech breakthrough moving towards real-world application, supported by the expertise of our Innovation Factory and partners like Northern Gritstone. My congratulations to the team behind PhovIR, this is exactly the kind of impact we want to see more of across our University and our region."
PhovIR is chaired by Dr Steve Turley, who has over 25 years' experience dedicated to scaling complex technologies into high growth businesses, including as Chair of Effect Photonics and ex-CEO of Perpetuum.
With the funding, PhovIR plans to bring its first commercial product to market, grow its team, and continue delivering on its vision for making the invisible visible to improve human and planetary health.
PhovIR recently completed Northern Gritstone's pre-seed program, NG Studios, which has supported PhovIR to refine its commercial strategy as a customer-led organisation ready for growth and successful fundraising.
Active since May 2022, Northern Gritstone has already made 37 investments in early-stage businesses in the North of England, expanded its investment team and built NG Innovation Services, its venture building 'toolkit' offering, inter alia: talent management; growth advice; business services; and the accelerator program, NG Studios.
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: "PhovIR is a Northern Gritstone NG Studios graduate. The University of Manchester is home to innovation in materials science including graphene. Northern Gritstone is delighted to back Dr Tim Echtermeyer and Dr Steve Turley - graduates of our NG Studios venture building program - knowing that PhovIR's technology has the potential to create a global company."
Dr Tim Echtermeyer, CTO of PhovIR, said: "I am exhilarated to enter the next part of PhovIR's journey and turn our vision into reality. I am grateful to the many people contributing and making this happen; particularly Steve, and William Wren and Minh Vu from the Engineering team, who have worked relentlessly.
Dr Steve Turley, Chair of PhovIR said: "I am very excited to be working with PhovIR not only because of the immense potential that the technology has but also the great team in Manchester led by Tim. It's an opportunity to demonstrate that the UK can take excellent innovative technology and turn it into a global success story"
John Williams, General Partner of SCVC said: "PhovIR represents the future of deep tech: advanced hardware, unlocked by AI. It's the kind of multi-tech breakthrough that creates entirely new categories-and the kind SCVC is here to back."
