UK venture builder and early-stage investor Zinc Capital Management has secured a commitment of up to £46 million from the British Business Bank for its new Science-for-Impact Fund, which is targeting a total size of £70 million.
- The commitment, made through the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) programme, will help Zinc back deeptech startups from the earliest stages and turn scientific breakthroughs into scalable businesses addressing health and environmental challenges.
- Founded in 2017 by Ella Goldner and Saul Klein, Zinc works with scientists and entrepreneurs to develop research-driven ideas into investment-ready companies. Its new fund aims to build a portfolio of 80 UK deeptech startups across areas including advanced manufacturing, clean energy, life sciences, engineering, biology, and AI.
- Zinc's existing portfolio includes SignaCor, which develops therapeutics for heart disease; Epiome, an AI-powered biomarker platform for neurodegenerative diseases; Speek, a digital clinical care platform; Spine, an AI operating system for grid-scale battery assets; and CellMine, which is developing a waste-free process for recycling lithium-ion batteries.
"We founded Zinc to change that by partnering with exceptional scientists and entrepreneurs across the UK at the earliest stages, helping transform world-class research into ventures that deliver lasting impact in health and the environment while building the globally significant businesses of the future," claims Ella Goldner, co-founder and Managing Partner at Zinc.
- The new fund builds on the British Business Bank’s previous commitment to Zinc II in 2022 and will expand Zinc’s ability to support founders at the earliest stages, when access to capital is often limited.
