CCI Photonics among first companies to receive investment from new programme

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.

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 the programme, 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.