The Development Bank of Wales has invested £2.4m of equity into ten of Wales' most promising tech-focused start-ups over a ten week period since the pandemic lockdown.
With a specialist team and funding to support technology businesses, the Development Bank of Wales is one of the top five technology investors in the Ƶ according to the Beauhurst Report.
The deals:
Reacta Biotech, £625,000
Based in Flintshire Reacta Biotech has completed its largest funding round to date, which has raised £1.25m of equity finance including £625,000 from the Development Bank of Wales.
As cases of food allergy and allergy related hospitalisations continue to rise, Reacta’s core focus is to improve the diagnosis and management of allergies.
This is through the provision of a pharmaceutical grade Oral Food Challenge (OFC), the gold standard for the clinical testing of food allergy.
The investment has been drawn down from existing investors, management, Moulton Goodies, Development Bank of Wales and Acceleris Capital.
The capital raised will help Reacta Biotech to achieve the regulatory approval for its manufacturing facility in Deeside.
Professor Ashley Woodcock, chairman of Reacta Biotech said: “This investment is a significant step in the development of Reacta Biotech’s business.
"A combination of seeking our own MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) approval and the recent FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval of the first specific food allergy therapy set to launch in the US soon, creates ideal timing for Reacta to become the only standardised and trusted OFC for all food allergy therapeutics.”
Digital Asset Services, £400,000
Trading as Coincover, Digital Asset Services is a provider of insurance services to the cryptocurrency sector.
The Cardiff-based business is working in conjunction with Atrium, a syndicate of Lloyds on the launch of a new insurance policy to protect cryptocurrency held in online wallets against theft or other malicious hacks.
The first of its kind liability policy, with flexible limits from as little as £1,000, protects against losses arising from the theft of cryptocurrency held in online, hot wallets.
The policy is backed by a panel of other Lloyd’s insurers, which includes TMK and Markel, all of whom are members of Lloyd’s Product Innovation Facility (PIF).
Bond Digital Health, £300,000
Cardiff-based Bond Digital Health is part of an international consortium that is producing a diagnostic test for patients suspected of having Covid-19.
The consortium was set up by Canadian company Sona Nanotech Inc and includes GE Healthcare Life Sciences.
The new test is based on lateral flow technology, which is used in a wide range of human diagnostics, including for infectious diseases such as cholera, malaria and HIV.
The test will be affordable, easy to use and will return results in minutes. Bond is adding its digital connectivity to the test to allow valuable test data to be securely captured, stored, analysed and shared in real time. This could allow authorities to monitor the spread of the outbreak.
Bond has been developing its connectivity technology for the past two years and was due to launch its platform later this year. However, the Covid-19 outbreak and the increased demand for its technology prompted Bond to fast-track the project and seek interim funding ahead of its planned Series A investment round.
To hire additional technical and admin staff to help speed up the development, Bond turned to the Development Bank of Wales and Wealth Club, the high net worth investment service. Members of Wealth Club filled their entire £400,000 allocation within one minute of the offer opening and the Development Bank of Wales’ technology venture investments team provided a further £300,000.
Bond plans to launch its Series A investment round in the coming months.
Space Forge, £250,000
Newport-based Space Forge has secured a £600,000 funding package from the Development Bank of Wales, alongside Bristol Private Equity Club and Innovate Ƶ.
This funding will help the company continue developing their reusable manufacturing satellite, ramp up their capability in Newport and Bristol and build upon Ƶ and European partnership schemes.
Space Forge’s vision is to harness the power space by manufacturing high-performance products impossible to produce on earth, which work to decrease energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.
The permanent microgravity only found in space enables billions of new alloys to be made that were previously out of reach for humanity. By bringing them back to earth these alloys could revolutionise renewable energy, transport and computing industries.
It is hoped this far-reaching technology will eventually enable space manufacture to be a viable option for the variety of products that will help create a clean society and radically reduce global carbon emissions.
The satellites would be engineered with the planet in mind too, as the first ever reusable satellites that can be refurbished and launched again, rather than burning up in the atmosphere.
Co-founders, Joshua Western and Andrew Bacon plan to recruit 10 new team members across Newport and Bristol to develop the satellite project to a test launch position.
Mr Western said: “It is amazing to receive this funding at such a critical time for our company. Both investments will help us create jobs in our key technologies across our base in Wales and new design hub in Bristol.
"This funding will help us accelerate the development of critical technologies and carry out key testing. We need as much support as possible and are on the lookout for investors for future opportunities. Who wants to come to space with us?”
Universal Synergistic Holdings, £250,000
Trading as Hybrisan, Universal Synergistic Holdings is based in Neath Port Talbot and is scaling up production of its anti-microbial products in the fight against Covid 19.
Hybrisan manufacture liquid sanitiser and use advanced nanotechnology to produce highly advanced material, impregnated with the liquid sanitiser for use in high quality personal protective equipment (PPE) for the NHS and other frontline workers.
The liquid sanitiser developed by Hybrisan is 99.999% effective in killing coronavirus without alcohol, even on surfaces.
The business has used venture capital from the Development Bank of Wales and private investors, as well as Smart Cymru funding.
The Smart Cymru grant is to fund further development of antimicrobial non-woven materials. These form the basis of the filter systems they are developing for use in face masks. Whilst the Development Bank investment has been used to purchase a new electrospinning machine, to enable them to scale up production.
Other companies that also received investment:
Swansea based Armadillo, with £150,000 in equity finance, which will enable the provider of advanced materials to commercialise their electroplating technology.
Swansea basedOrtharize, which has secured a £250,000 investment. Ortharize provides a rewards-based B2B SaaS travel-booking platform and will use the investment to fund business operations.
Swansea-based Zeal, which trades as Litelok, makes the world’s lightest and strongest bicycle locks which are able to withstand bolt cutters and hand saws.
Cardiff-based Journolink, an interactive low-cost SaaS platform enabling SMEs, agencies and business support organisations to manage start-up PR and send out stories to journalists, broadcasters and bloggers.
TheDevelopmentBankofWalesalso increased its shareholding in Port Talbot-based Hexigone Inhibitors, another producer of advanced materials.
Simon Thelwall Jones, director of technology venture for theDevelopmentBankofWalessaid: “We have boosted our technology investment team again this year and now have 16 dedicated investment professionals making tech investments.
"That’s a reflection of our commitment to back early stage businesses across the whole ofWales. As the most active investor in tech-rich businesses inWaleswe are here to provide patient capital for businesses through seed and later stage equity finance often investing in those businesses for several years.
“Ten deals in ten weeks demonstrates the continued appetite by young technology businesses for timely funding to support the commercialisation anddevelopmentof their products.
"From production of prototypes to clinical trials, we are providing equity funding where and when it is most needed to create jobs and develop the next generation of world class businesses that callWalestheir home."
