QV Bioelectronics Raises £735k for development of implanted electric field therapy device for brain cancer treatment.

• £735k seed financing raised from VC and angel investors.
• The capital will be used to advance development of the GRACE implant, to treat brain tumour patients with electric field therapy, whilst also expanding the team and accelerating the collection of preclinical data
• The preclinical safety and efficacy data will provide preclinical proof of concept and form part of regulatory submission for QV to enter the clinic. 

30th June 2021, Cheshire, UK

QV Bioelectronics (“QV”) – a medical device start-up pioneering a first of its kind electric field therapy implant for the treatment of the most common and aggressive type of brain tumours, announces it has closed a £735,000 seed funding round to advance the development of its innovative GRACE implant.

The round was significantly oversubscribed, attracting support from Consilience Ventures, SOSV, the GM & Cheshire Life Sciences Fund, managed by Catapult Ventures, and several angel investors. In Consilience Ventures – a VC that takes a very different approach to funding and service support as an integral part of its business model – QV has established a long-term partner for growth with a network and knowledge base that aids the company at every stage of development. SOSV is a global venture capital firm that operates early-stage start-up development programs. SOSV can provide multi-stage investment to develop and scale QV Bioelectronics while providing the founders with ongoing support and community. Catapult Ventures – one of the most experienced healthcare and life science VC investors in the UK – joins the round via the GM & Cheshire Life Sciences Fund, contributing long-term value creation with decades of sector experience and a history of supporting the growth of companies at a seed stage. Several high net-worth investors also lend their significant support to this round.

Ahead of this investment, QV Bioelectronics had raised a mixture of equity and grant funding totalling over £350,000, including pre-seed funding from SOSV and grants from Innovate UK and the National Institute for Health Research.

QV Bioelectronics is led and co-founded by Dr Christopher Bullock (CEO), alongside Mr Richard Fu (co-founder and clinical director), an academic neurosurgeon. They are backed by an expert team of engineers and scientists who have been working closely with some of the UK’s leading neurosurgeons on the prototype design of the GRACE device. 

QV Bioelectronics is determined to deliver longer and a better-quality life for brain tumour patients. It is hoped that GRACE will provide a paradigm shift in the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM), the most common form of primary brain cancer in adults that has amongst the worst outcomes of any type of cancer. Utilising advanced materials, the technology underpinning the GRACE device is designed to significantly extend patient life-expectancy without negatively affecting patient quality of life. GRACE is still at an early stage of development, and it will be several years before the technology is ready to enter clinical trials. 

Following the investment, QV welcomes Dr Deepak Kotak of Consilience Ventures to the board of directors. 

Commenting on the round, Dr Christopher Bullock (CEO) said:

“This investment is a vote of confidence in QV Bioelectronics from sector-expert investors. The funds raised will fuel the next phase of development of the GRACE device, allowing the size of the QV Bioelectronics team to grow in the process. This will take our innovative electric field therapy technology a few steps closer towards the clinic.” 

Deepak Kotak adds:

“We are excited to be supporting QV Bioelectronics advance an elegant and novel technology to help improve longevity and quality of life of GBM patients, an area of huge and longstanding unmet medical need.”

Vijay Curthan from Catapult Ventures said:

“Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive cancers yet there have been precious few treatment innovations over the decades. We invested in QV because they bring together Manchester’s leadership position in advanced materials with the knowhow of some of the UK’s most pre-eminent neurosurgeons to reimagine the use of electric field therapy – a new modality to treat cancer – in a way that will turn the tide on this devastating disease.”

-ends-

Contact

Qasim Akhtar
QV Bioelectronics
[email protected]

Notes to Editors:

About QV Bioelectronics

QV Bioelectronics are striving to deliver longer, better quality lives for brain tumour patients. 

Their implanted electric field therapy, GRACE, aims to address the unmet clinical of glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary brain tumour. 

QV Bioelectronics have global aspirations for their treatment, with the ambition of integrating the GRACE implant into the international standard for the treatment of GBM patients. 

Their therapy aims to change the paradigm of GBM treatment, with the ambition of significantly extending life expectancy without impacting patient quality of life, so patients can focus on what matters to them.

About Consilience Ventures

Our mission is to fast-track the growth of 1000 world-changing deep tech businesses worldwide in 10 years.

Our model identifies new market opportunities where promising start-ups require both funding and building support at critical stages. Our agile financing method ensures capital is raised on demand and provides decisive business expertise at the right times.

Our greatest strength is our exclusive network of entrepreneurs, hands-on investors, and functional experts. Through this community, we accelerate value creation and align incentives, leading to attractive rewards shared equitably among all stakeholders.

Acceleration requires power. Consilience Ventures is turbo-powered venture capital.

About SOSV

SOSV is a global venture capital firm that operates early-stage start-up development programs.

SOSV’s programs are focused on two broad areas. The first is revolutionary technology that promises the betterment of humanity and the planet. The second is cross-border markets, notably in Asia, that are ripe for explosive growth. 

The firm’s strategy is to invest in a small number of highly promising start-ups and use its deeply resourced programs to accelerate product development, acquire customers, and scale. SOSV companies consistently achieve funding led by top tier investors. SOSV joins seed, series A and later rounds while providing founders with ongoing support and community. The five programs work with 135 new companies each year. As of April 2021, SOSV had more than 1,000 portfolio companies and $970 million in assets under management.

About the Greater Manchester & Cheshire Life Sciences Fund

Managed by Catapult Ventures, the Greater Manchester & Cheshire (‘GM&C’) Life Sciences Fund is a seed and early-stage venture capital fund targeting life science businesses located in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire & Warrington region.  The Fund is the result of a collaboration between Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Cheshire East Council, and Manchester Science Partnerships and can be invested in ‘Life Science’ businesses across the following sectors: Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Diagnostics, Life Science Contract Research Organisations (CRO), Healthcare Technologies and Medical Devices. With contributions from both private and public-sector partners, the size of the Fund, at launch, is around £31m. Full details can be found at: www.gmclifesciencesfund.com

About Catapult Ventures

Catapult Ventures is an independent venture capital fund manager that has been investing in UK businesses since 2002. Catapult’s owners have operated discrete funds on behalf of public and private sector investors totalling c. £130m, including the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Sciences Fund. Since 2015 Catapult has recorded 13 profitable exits averaging 4.8x money multiple, including Accutronics (9.1x), Lumora (4.7x), Oxford Cryosystems (5.2x), Systems Integration (4.9x), Monica Healthcare (3.6x), BWB Consulting (3.2x), Hangar7 (3x), Stagecoach (2x), Yospace (6.9x), R2C Online (12.6x) and Oracle Care and Education (3.4x). Catapult Ventures and Catapult Ventures Group are trading names of Catapult Ultimate Holdings Ltd, which is the ultimate holding company of Catapult Venture Managers Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.catapult-ventures.com