SCVC, a Bristol-based early-stage deep tech VC investing in biotech to quantum tech, has announced the first close of its second fund with a target of up to $100 million. The new fund will be used to build the team’s core strategy and expertise and the VC also plans to invest between $500k to $3 million at pre-seed and seed rounds. Further, they plan to provide follow-on funding of Series A tickets up to $7 million for top-performing companies.
The second fund’s first investment has already been announced. It will back VyperCore, a RISC-V startup developing modified processors that promise a massive step change in performance and security. Soon, the VC firm also plans to announce another investment into a startup developing a new gene therapy platform that offers treatment hope for some of the world’s most devastating genetic diseases.
SCVC’s Managing Partner and Co-Founder Harry Destecroix commented: “Our goal has been to build the venture firm we wished we had as founders. We give deep tech start-ups access to bespoke technical and business expertise, as well as capital. Our portfolio is united by category-defining innovation driven by world-class founders, and the new fund allows us to double down on our mission and enable more scientists to become founders and turn their discoveries into inventions.”
Ropes in first Venture Partner
The UK VC startup brings added expertise to support the existing team by roping in exited founder John Williams as its first Venture Partner. Williams is the technical brains behind Kudan, the UK-Japanese company focused on software for artificial perception technologies, which enjoyed a spectacular listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2018.
Destecroix commented: “We’re thrilled to have John on board. He strengthens our domain expertise in hardware and AI and fits SCVC’s thesis of welcoming exited deep tech founders turned investors. His input will be a huge asset for the firm and our portfolio companies.”
Notable investments of Fund I
SCVC was co-founded by Dr. Harry Destecroix and Jon Craton, two exited deep tech entrepreneurs from the South West. They met while angel investing and joined forces to create the first deep tech VC firm in the region and the official VC arm of deep tech ecosystem Science Creates.
The VC’s first $17 million seed fund has backed 12 companies working on technologies ranging from therapeutics and diagnostics to quantum sensors and semiconductors. The fund invested in startups, including Delta g, pioneering a new generation of quantum gravity sensors, and Isomab, a pre-clinical stage biotech developing a breakthrough treatment for Peripheral Vascular Disease.
