University accelerator Northern Gritstone has announced a combined £4m 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, which uses its Near Infra-Red (NIR) optical sensor technology to identify the ‘optical fingerprint’ of constituents of solids, liquids and gases in a portable device.
The company’s innovation is said to have far-reaching applications for human health, such as the detection of drink spiking and other contaminants to industrial safety, pollution monitoring and agricultural functions. PhovIR’s technology can be manufactured on a silicon chip, enabling lightweight and cost-effective solutions that could be incorporated into a smart watch or phone.
Prof 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 more than 25 years’ experience dedicated to scaling complex technologies into high growth businesses, including as chair of Effect Photonics and ex-CEO of Perpetuum. The company recently completed Northern Gritstone’s pre-seed program, NG Studios, and plans to use the funding to bring its first commercial product to market and grow its team.
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.”
Since being established in 2022, Northern Gritstone has made 37 investments in early-stage businesses in the North of England, expanded its investment team and built NG Innovation Services and the NG Studios accelerator programme.
