Mercia Ventures
Canvas Category Consultancy : Company : Venture Capital
We are one of the UK’s most active venture capital investors. From early-stage to scaleup investment, our investment team operates from a shared set of beliefs, partnering with entrepreneurs for the long term. We offer venture capital investment of up to £10million and support our portfolio companies at every stage of their growth. We’ve seen what it takes to build great companies and we work closely with founders to achieve this goal together.
Assembly Line
Scalpel AI raises $4.8M: Can AI revolutionise surgical logistics to save lives and cut costs?
Scalpel AI, a London-based medtech startup, has announced a $4.8M (£3.8M) funding round led by Mercia Ventures, joined by Tensor Ventures and private investors. The funds will support Scalpel AI’s global expansion and the rollout of its pioneering technology with key players in the healthcare supply chain, including sterile services, hospitals, and logistics providers like GlobalMed Logistix (GMLx).
Founded in 2017 by Dr Yeshwanth Pulijala and Dr Shahnawaz Ahmed, Scalpel AI tackles a common yet costly issue in healthcare: the mismanagement of surgical tools and implants. “The success of any surgery depends not only on what happens inside the operating theatre but also on having a smooth-running operation behind the scenes,” says Dr Pulijala, Scalpel AI’s co-founder and CEO. “At Scalpel AI, we work with leading medical device companies and healthcare organisations to transform their logistical supply chain and reduce costs by millions of dollars. Together, we are making surgery safer for patients while paving the way for personalised surgery, which we believe is the future of healthcare.”
The platform uses computer vision and machine learning to track surgical instruments from vendor warehouses to operating theatres, creating a digital twin for each tool. By ensuring surgical trays contain the correct instruments, Scalpel AI aims to set a global standard for surgical logistics and improve patient outcomes.
Alesi snaps £5M to mitigate surgical smoke problems in operating theatres
Alesi Surgical, a UK-based startup developing a novel technology to manage smoke created by surgical tools in operating theatres, has raised £5 million in funding. The round was led by Mercia Ventures (which invested in Warehow and Wobble Genomics) alongside existing investors IP Group and Panakès Partners. With this, the total funding raised by the company accounts for £21 million.
The latest funding will enable it to drive sales in the US market and to seek regulatory approvals for its products in Europe and Japan.
Promethean Particles Announces Closure of £8M Series A Investment Round
Promethean Particles announces the closing of a £8 million financing round. The investment was led by Mercia Ventures and Aramco Ventures, with participation from existing investors including the Midlands Engine Investment Fund I (managed by Foresight), the University of Nottingham, TSP Ventures, and the East Midlands Early Growth Fund (managed by the British Business Bank).
MOFs are a class of materials composed of metal ions interconnected by organic molecules to form a porous, lattice-like structure. Their unique architecture gives them an exceptionally high surface area and customizable pore sizes, which allows them to trap and store gases and liquids efficiently. This makes MOFs highly effective for applications such as gas storage and separation, carbon capture, and catalysis.
The company has developed a proprietary continuous-flow reactor that not only dramatically improves the throughput and cost of MOF production, but also increases process reliability and consistency, without sacrificing critical quality parameters. Promethean currently produces a wide portfolio of MOFs for various customer applications including carbon capture and storage (CCS), biogas upgrading, water harvesting and gas separation and storage.
Suiso snaps £3M to produce low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen
Suiso which develops a hydrogen generator that could boost the uptake of green energy, has raised £3 million in funding from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance that recently invested in Pimberly and Eventum Orthopaedics. The investor is managed by Mercia Ventures and is a part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, and Mercia’s EIS funds.
The latest investment will enable it to scale up its technology and begin a pilot project. It aims to produce generators that can produce 1,000 kg of hydrogen a day, which is equivalent to 1.6 MW of energy and enough to fuel 50 20-tonne trucks. The company, which currently employs five staff, expects to create seven new jobs in the next six months.