A fresh £225m: UK life sciences continue to ride wave of Covid-19 momentum
The UK’s life sciences sector has continued to ride the wave of momentum that has come with Covid-19, with investors increasingly alive to the sector’s opportunities.
The Cambridge Innovation Centre (CIC) has raised £225m in an oversubscribed round for its second life sciences fund, it announced today.
The venture capital investor, focused on life sciences and deeptech businesses, has invested over £2bn into gene therapy, liquid biopsy robotics, semiconductors and artificial intelligence sectors alongside co-investors.
The Fund II, which features both institutional and strategic investors, now manages more than £500m, as it looks to scale portfolio companies and offer operational support amid heightened demand.
The wave of new interest prompted Big Four firm KPMG UK to set up a new regulatory team in its life sciences practice in November.
CMR Surgical, a portfolio company of CIC’s first fund, last year closed the largest medical-technology private financing round on the global stage to date – with investors pouring £425m of fresh financing into the firm, which pushed its valuation to top £2bn.
The soaring demand for semiconductors has also caught the eye of investors.
Pragmatic Semiconductor, another portfolio firm, raised $80m (£62.7m) in October last year, to bolster its second manufacturing facility in the UK, after the pandemic stifled global supply.
With Taiwan, the world’s largest semiconductor producer, reporting weaker-than-expected production growth for March, investors are likely to be keen to further strengthen the UK’s own chip-making capabilities.