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Lancashire-based university spinout CCI Photonics among first companies to receive investment from new Praetura Ventures and NPIF II startup programme

Press release 09 December 2024

A Lancashire technology startup that plans to help clinicians prescribe antibiotics more effectively has become one of the first companies to receive a £200k investment from PraeSeed, a six-week cohort investing programme for early-stage businesses.

Dr. Carlos Alejandro Meza Ramirez, CEO and co-founder of CCI Photonics with Dr. Carlos Alejandro Meza Ramirez, CEO and co-founder of CCI Photonics

CCI Photonics, a Lancaster University spinout, will use the funding to further trial its InfectiScanTM device, a point-of-care test that can be used by GPs and pharmacists to accurately detect infection types in patients so the best antibiotic can be prescribed.  

In total seven businesses have secured investment from PraeSeed, an initiative founded by the Manchester-based VC Praetura Ventures and funded by NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance, which is managed by Praetura as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.

Launched in May, PraeSeed’s mission is to identify startup and early-stage investment opportunities for NPIF II, while providing founders at the pre-seed stage with new opportunities for additional funding and support with investor readiness.

For its inaugural year, PraeSeed hosted 12 businesses from various sectors and regions, with each invited to take part in workshops and presentations on all aspects of scaling a business, including creating a go-to-market strategy, navigating financial modelling and tackling fundraising. As well as Praetura’s investment and portfolio teams, the sessions were hosted by later-stage founders and experts from the business landscape.

With plans to support clinicians by helping them to make accurate diagnoses and prescribe the right antibiotics, CCI Photonics aims to use the investment to tackle the ongoing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), hastened by patients taking incorrect or unnecessary antibiotics. Highlighting the scale of the problem, one report from The Lancet predicts 39 million related deaths could occur between 2025 and 2050, as a result of AMR.

CCI Photonics, which has also received grant funding from UK Research and Innovation, will now undertake a number of steps towards clinical adoption, including validating its prototype in a laboratory setting before eventually seeking market approval. 

Dr. Carlos Alejandro Meza Ramirez, CEO and co-founder of CCI Photonics, said: 

The support we have received from the Praetura team has provided us with a clear perspective for the future, and the lessons learned throughout the programme have helped lay the ground for early conversations with future investors. PraeSeed also provided us with a strong foundation from which we have successfully secured a new grant from UK Research and Innovation, which will be used to strengthen our prototype feasibility study in collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. I have great confidence in our team, and I’m certain we will make a difference in saving lives and tackling microbial resistance.

Jessica Jackson, investment manager at Praetura Ventures and PraeSeed lead, said: 

We received 200 applications for PraeSeed, and CCI Photonics stood out to us as an exciting and innovative business tackling a real-world, growing need. PraeSeed was developed to seek out and fund early-stage businesses such as CCI Photonics, which impressed us throughout PraeSeed, from our initial meeting all the way through to the pitching stage. CCI Photonics was a natural choice for us and is proof there is a substantial amount of innovation happening across Lancashire.

Sue Barnard, Senior Manager at British Business Bank, said: 

Supporting companies that are pushing the boundaries of innovation is crucial in creating new processes and products to solve complex medical problems. This investment will do exactly that by giving financial resource to an exciting medtech company in an important field of health. We look forward to seeing the impact that access to finance from NPIF II can have on exciting Northern businesses.

The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIFII), which has funded PraeSeed through NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance, covers the entire North of England and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.

The purpose of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the North of England. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for the North’s smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance.

The next instalment of PraeSeed will launch again in March next year and businesses wishing to take part our encouraged to follow Praetura Ventures on LinkedIn or X for more details.

CCI Photonics was advised by Darren Ormsby, partner at DWF Law LLP. A team from Irwin Mitchell LLP, led by partner Adam Kaucher, acted on behalf of Praetura Ventures and supported the legal framework for the programme.

Further Information

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Notes to editors

About the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II

  • Operated by the British Business Bank, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) provides a mix of debt and equity funding.  NPIF II will offer a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25k to £100k, debt finance from £100k to £2m and equity investment up to £5 million. It works alongside the Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), and Growth Hubs, as well as local intermediaries such as accountants, fund managers and banks, to support the South West’s smaller businesses at all stages of their development. 
  • The funds in which the NPIF II invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, City of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees, South Teesside, Darlington, Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside, Sunderland.     
  • Supported by Nations and Regions Investments Limited, a subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the Bank is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. Neither Nations and Regions Investments Limited nor British Business Bank plc are authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

About PraeSeed

PraeSeed is an early-stage investment programme that focuses on deploying equity investment into early-stage businesses in the North to help fill a known funding gap in “preseed” or pre-revenue businesses. Launched in March 2024, with the first-ever cohort starting in June that year, PraeSeed initially welcomed 12 businesses for a series of workshops, mentoring sessions and support from Praetura Ventures’ investment team, external experts and existing founders, with the aim of improving investor readiness among the businesses involved. The programme is funded by NPIF II – Equity North West, which is managed by Praetura as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, and aims to invest over £6m into 35 start-up businesses over the next five years. Find out more here - praeturaventures.com/praeseed.

About Praetura Ventures

Praetura Ventures is a Manchester-based venture capital firm which invests in early-stage, high-growth businesses across the UK, with a particular focus on supporting entrepreneurs across the North of England.          

Praetura Ventures is committed to adding value post-investment and providing the ‘more than money’ support that businesses need to grow, including additional expertise, resources, networks and guidance, to its investee companies.        

Since 2019, Praetura Ventures has backed 45 companies, including North West headquartered businesses Culture Shift, AccessPay and Peak. The business has now grown to over £260m AUM and recently won the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II mandate for the £100m fund dedicated to equity in the North West of England.   

Learn more at praeturaventures.com. 

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