52North, a University of Cambridge medtech spinout, has raised £3.2m in equity in a round co-led by Macmillan Ventures and Hargreave Hale AIM VCT. The round takes its total equity funding past £7.5m.
52North develops Neutrocheck, a finger-prick blood test. It lets chemotherapy patients be checked remotely for neutropenia, a drop in white blood cells that leaves them at risk of sepsis. The aim is to separate real emergencies from false alarms before a patient goes to A&E.
The company says research suggests about two in five emergency hospital visits over suspected neutropenic sepsis may be false alarms. That is the cost Neutrocheck is designed to cut, for patients and for NHS acute services.
The deal
The £3.2m round was co-led by two investors. Macmillan Ventures, the newly launched venture arm of Macmillan Cancer Support, is making its first lead investment. Hargreave Hale AIM VCT has committed £1.0m.
Other participants:
- Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Company
- Cancer Research Horizons, the commercialisation arm of Cancer Research UK
- the University of Cambridge
- OKG Capital
Innovate UK is also adding grant funding through its Investor Partnerships programme, which matches qualifying private rounds with non-dilutive money. The size of the grant was not disclosed. The pre-money valuation was not disclosed.
Felix Litzkow, head of Macmillan Ventures, will join 52North's board. Litzkow said 52North was exactly the kind of company the venture arm was set up to back.
A charity-heavy cap table
52North's investors are unusual for a seed-to-Series A medtech. Two of the largest cancer charities in the UK now hold equity, Macmillan directly and Cancer Research UK through Cancer Research Horizons. They sit alongside a US hospital system's IP company and the founding university.
The structure is not new for 52North. An earlier raise, reported at about $6m, also brought in Cedars-Sinai as a US hospital-backed investor. Charity and hospital investors tend to bring clinical access and routes to adoption as well as capital. A listed VCT in the round adds a more conventional financial backer for future rounds.
Use of funds
52North, led by chief executive and co-founder Umaima Ahmad, will spend the money on three things:
- clinical validation of Neutrocheck
- progress towards regulatory approval
- preparing to launch in the UK market
What's next
The company's next milestones are regulatory clearance and evidence that the test reduces avoidable admissions. Those will decide how the next round is priced. For Macmillan Ventures, the deal sets a template for a charity using its balance sheet to lead, rather than follow, in early-stage cancer technology.
Original source: IFA Magazine — https://ifamagazine.com/52north-raises-3-2-million-to-transform-urgent-cancer-care-with-funding-co-led-by-macmillan-cancer-support-and-hargreave-hale-aim-vct/
