In partnership with British Business Bank and Innovate UK, Pioneer Group hosted our first life sciences investment showcase last month at the beautiful Victoria House, London, with a mission of introducing a select group of early-stage companies to key industry investors, including AbbVie, the leading global pharmaceuticals company and European life sciences venture capital firm, Seroba.

About the Showcase

A number of ambitious businesses and entrepreneurs from the Pioneer Group community attended the event , many of which have been part of our Accelerator and Scale-Up programmes, including: Endocryne, Fast Biopharma, Invizius, NanoSyrinx, NuVision Biotherapies, Phenotypeca, Rinri Therapeutics, Apeikon Therapeutics, Bioliberty, Eupnoos, Mint Diagnostics, Neurobell, and Vitarka Therapeutics and Maxwellia.

The event featured 10-minute presentations from each company, providing investors with a unique opportunity to discover a succession of game-changing, future-focused innovations.

To cap off the night, guests were treated to a guided tasting of premium wines, courtesy of Haynes Hanson & Clark‘s impeccable expertise.

Founder & CEO of Maxwellia, Anna Maxwell, said: “Having face-to-face meetings with investors is really important, and being introduced in this way, was actually quite powerful.” Investors were also impressed with the innovations and exciting new technologies on display, with Jennifer McMahon of Seroba commenting: “There’s lots of enabling technologies out there which are helping the delivery of new drugs. I feel really excited about what we’ve seen at this event.”

Investors were also impressed with the innovations and exciting new technologies on display.

Jennifer McMahon of Seroba added: “There’s lots of enabling technologies out there which are helping the delivery of new drugs. I feel really excited about what we’ve seen at this event.”

Life Sciences Investment: A Virtuous Circle

Louis Taylor, CEO of British Business Bank, said: “Life sciences is incredibly important for the UK economy. As a future-focused industry, it helps to power innovation, employs a lot of talented people, and after a while becomes a virtuous circle. The attraction of partnering with Pioneer Group is that it is creating an ecosystem around life sciences – almost a brokerage between investors who find it difficult to find opportunities and companies who find it difficult to find investors.

“From my personal perspective, the most exciting part of putting money into life sciences companies is the realisation of the science, which is solving huge issues that mankind has wrestled with for a long time. I feel hopeful that the connections formed at Pioneer Group’s life sciences investment showcase will be really fruitful.”

We’re grateful for the support of our sponsors and the participation of those that made this event a success. Thanks to everyone who attended, and helped make our life sciences investment showcase a night where innovation and entrepreneurship could prosper.

In 2023, we’re making it even easier for scientists and entrepreneurs to align discovery, development, investment and expertise. Find out more about our life sciences investment opportunities here.