NetScientific (NSCI ), a holding company with investments in life sciences, sustainability, and industrial technology, announced the completion of a £3.2m funding round for its portfolio company Vortex Biotech Holdings Ltd. Vortex operates within the multi-billion dollar oncology liquid biopsy market. Originally a spin-out from University of California, Los Angeles, Vortex is now dually based in the UK and the Bay Area, US.
Vortex's technology allows for the capture and isolation of intact, label-free and pure Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) from blood samples. The company aims to become a leader in CTC capture technology that helps enumerate and characterise CTCs in order to improve therapeutic decision making.
This exciting area of oncology can provide researchers and clinicians with access to insights that address the main causes of metastasis, treatment resistance and disease recurrence, contributing to a major shift in how cancer can be treated and monitored.
Alongside the new investors in Vortex, NetScientific converted its £0.4m loan into equity. Following completion of the fundraising, the total equity holding of NetScientific in Vortex is now 24.98%, which equates to a post-investment fair value of £2.8m, an increase of 300% from the £0.7m reported as of 31 December 2022.
The new £3.2m investment in Vortex should significantly accelerate the company's work programme toward a breakthrough in CTC capture that can be used to inform oncology treatment, further facilitated by recent progress in precision diagnostics and targeted therapies.
Vortex is just one in NetScientific's extensive portfolio of 24 companies. Other notable names include PDS Biotech (a clinical-stage immunotherapy company), ProAxsis (respiratory diagnostics specialist), Glycotest (specialist in liver disease diagnostics), Sofant Technologies (5G and Satcom antenna developer), and Q-Bot (robotics) that have all reported major licence agreements, capital raises, and development milestones over the past 2 years.
As a result, NetScientific's portfolio valuation increased by 35% to £41.8m last year, reaffirming its capital-light investment model of progressing cohort companies through value creation, boosted by 3rd party investment rounds, and targeting profitable exits for some and portfolio growth for others.
The holding company's balance sheet grew by 40% to £29m in 2022, with net assets up 36% to £25.2m, despite a wider loss for the year of £3.7m compared to £2.9m in 2021. NetScientific's venture capital arm EMV Capital was also profitable on increased revenues of £1.2m. In our estimation, NetScientific's now maturing portfolio offers significant potential for growth and future returns.
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