Northern Gritstone
Investor backing science and technology spinouts from northern England universities
Northern Gritstone funds science and technology spinouts from universities in Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. In September 2026 it backed Leeds spinout MicroLub's £7m round, continuing a pattern of early-stage northern university investment.
Last refreshed: 22 September 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Northern Gritstone
Two spinouts close on British money
UK Startups and InnovationLed Cytix's Series A
UK Startups and Innovation: Mindgard's $30m leads a spinout weekBackground
Northern Gritstone is an investment company that funds Science and technology spinouts and IP-rich businesses from universities in the north of England, principally Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. It has raised total capital commitments of around £382 million from a broad base of institutional investors, including local authority pension funds, which supplied more than £150 million of its initial funding, alongside Aviva, Fulcrum Asset Management and a £10 million cornerstone commitment from the British Business Bank.
Its origin reflects a regionally-backed answer to the concentration of UK venture capital in London and the South East. It typically writes cheques into seed and Series A rounds alongside co-investors, rather than taking whole rounds alone.
In September 2026 it put £4 million into a £7 million round for University of Leeds spinout MicroLub, and had earlier led a €6 million Series A for Lancaster spinout Cytix, continuing a pattern of backing early-stage northern university spinouts across engineering and materials science .
