After the previous two years, 2022 brought some return to normality although undoubtedly there have still been challenges for businesses.

We’re delighted to say we have been able to support and make investments into a range of companies, developing innovative solutions including in healthcare, science, ageing, and the environment, which are making a positive impact and have global potential. We’ve enjoyed strengthening our relationship with partners, including the region’s Universities and Innovate UK, to work together to be able to support the future of even more cutting-edge companies.

Congratulations to Low Carbon Materials

As the year draws to a close, our congratulations go to Low Carbon Materials (previously Sphera) who we’re proud to support, on being shortlisted for the prestigious global Earthshot Prize, one of the three finalists in the Fix Our Climate category.
Natasha Boulding, CEO and co-founder, said: “Being announced as an Earthshot Prize finalist has been an exhilarating experience for everyone at LCM. In a short space of time, it has thrust our purpose-driven start-up onto a global stage, helping us raise awareness of the environmental issues in construction which we seek to address, to educate and inform mass audiences, and illustrate how the built environment can change for the better through science-led innovations such as ours.”

Promoting North East opportunities

We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who attended and was involved in the recent event held in London for leading financiers, highlighting £30bn of investment possibilities in the North East.

Northstar Ventures, in partnership with Northern Accelerator and NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI), hosted the breakfast event at the London offices of insurance giant Aviva. Representatives of businesses and the region’s universities told an audience of 150 people from investment groups and global banks about opportunities in the North East for green industries and the knowledge-based economy.

Speakers included representatives from the North of Tyne Combined Authority, Durham County Council, Tees Valley Combined Authority, Centre for Cities, NGI, the Universities of Newcastle, Sunderland and York, GB Bank, Atom Bank, Advanced Electric Machines, NorthEast Capital, Lloyds Banking Group and Equinor.

Sarah Green, chief executive of Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, said: “With so much opportunity in the region it’s our job to promote our offer to the world. This event was a real collaborative and regional effort to attract crucial private sector investment that will support the social and economic ambitions of the North East of England.”

Looking Ahead

We are looking forward to continue working with partners to focus on the future for the region. Earlier this year we launched the VISION 2031 campaign, with the North East Times Magazine, to lay out a blueprint for how our region can lead the next chapter in global industrial progress across the following ten years, by spearheading a new Knowledge Revolution.

Northstar Ventures’ Director Dominic Endicott said, “Thanks to advances in sectors as varied as ageing, electric vehicles, quantum computing and space, our region can be a cornerstone of the next Industrial Revolution. By growing and leading the Knowledge Revolution, we can also put the North East at the forefront of the Government’s ‘levelling-up’ agenda. We have the potential to create a very powerful, self-fulfilling, dynamo.”

You can find out more about Vision 2031 here

Our support to businesses

We’ve continued to support businesses and entrepreneurs with funding and other help this year and look forward to meeting even more innovative teams with the vision and expertise to help create a better future. A snapshot of the support that we’ve delivered this year is below, and if you think we could help you in 2023 then just get in touch for an initial chat.

Technology disrupter CellulaREvolution, which aims to revolutionise the way cells are grown in labs, raised £1million from strategic investors including CPT Capital, Stephan Schmidt, Orange Light Ventures, and funds managed by Northstar Ventures, and the Northern Accelerator Seed Investment Fund (NASIF).
CellulaREvolution, a spin out from Newcastle University, is developing ground-breaking technologies to make the culturing of cells more efficient and affordable.

North East company sub-10 received over £700K to help develop its intelligent learning platform using AI to change the way compliance training is delivered.
With £350,000 from the North East Innovation Fund, plus additional funding from Angel investors, sub-10 will be able to grow the company and develop its innovative platform. Innovate UK has also given £210,000 of funding from the Innovation Funding Services Combined Investor Partnerships programme.

AMLo, an innovative medical device company spun out of Newcastle University specialising in the early detection of skin cancers, secured significant further investment totalling £2.45m. AMBLor, AMLo’s “rule-out” prognostic test for early stage skin cancer, can accurately identify genuinely low risk, early-stage melanomas, potentially relieving thousands of patients from the risks associated with surveillance techniques and significant anxiety.
The round, including new investment from Ascension’s Life Fund and Conduit’s EIS Impact Fund, as well as re-investment from NorthStar Ventures, Future Planet Capital’s BIF Opportunities Fund, Esperante, and a number of Angel Investors, highlights the continued confidence in the technology and leadership of the business.

Low Carbon Materials (formerly Sphera), a company helping the construction sector build a net-zero world, closed a £1.9 million funding round. The investment round brought together a range of stakeholders who support Low Carbon Materials’ vision for a net-zero construction sector, including from the North East Innovation Fund. The round also included Green Angel Syndicate, the UK’s largest specialist network of investors fighting climate change. By recycling what most deem unrecyclable, Low Carbon Materials has created a carbon negative aggregate for concrete. Their building materials are tackling the colossal carbon footprint of traditional concrete, which makes up 8% of global carbon emissions. Their products provide a solution for construction professionals aiming to reduce their environmental impact.

VRAI, a Gateshead-based company that creates data driven VR simulation training, has secured £3 million in funding. Led by Northstar Ventures, this latest investment includes funding from the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund. The investment will see the company bring its data driven VR simulation technology to the offshore wind industry, to boost jobs in the region, and to grow its existing business in aerospace, defence and security.

xbim, a leading Newcastle based tech business, secured £500,000 from the North East Innovation Fund. The xbim Toolkit is the leading Open Source, OpenBIM software library, and provides a framework for developers to create their own BIM (Building Information Modelling) solutions for private and commercial purposes and is being used by thousands of developers around the world.

BelleVie Care, an innovative home care provider working to modernise and improve adult home care across the North East, received £2.1m in seed and grant funding.
The £1.6mn seed funding round, led by Skagen Conscious Capital, will enable the company to scale up its home care network across the region. Also providing backing to this seed round are the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Northstar Ventures, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Treebeard Trust and The Bank Workers Charity.
This investment also unlocked a further £550,000 in grant funding from Innovate UK, the government body supporting business-led innovation across sectors and regions.

Workshops, events and resources

We continue to grow our support to companies in addition to funding, developing online and in person workshops, tools and resources.
Together with Business Doctors, we have been delivering events supporting business owners through different stages, from planning and recovery, to rebooting, to business growth. We worked with the North East Satellite Applications Centre of Excellence to help business owners explore opportunities in the growing UK space sector.
Partnering with organisations across the region such as the North East England Chamber of Commerce, FSB, CPI, and BIC Sunderland, we’ve been able to deliver our workshops free of charge.
We’ve had brilliant feedback and iterated our content as the environment and opportunities over the past two years have changed.

Gary Thompson of Jagdesign took part in two workshops, and said, “When running a business, it is often difficult to justify time away from the day-to-day operations. I have to say that the time spent at the event was well worth it, and I have already used some of what I learned during the morning to improve my understanding of business improvements.”

And finally…

Instead of sending Christmas cards this year, we have made a donation to the Poverty Hurts campaign run by County Durham Community Foundation, supporting vital work across County Durham, the county with the highest level of child poverty in the UK.

There’s also still time for you to support children living in poverty and be in with a chance to win an e-bike

We’d like to wish you all a very happy Christmas, and a peaceful, positive New Year.
The Northstar Team