Empirical Ventures, a specialist DeepTech Fund secures additional £10m British Business Bank commitment to back the UK’s best venture scientists
Press release
The British Business Bank has announced a new £10m commitment through its Regional Angels Programme to Empirical Ventures, bringing its total support to £15m. This partnership will accelerate Empirical’s mission to back the best venture scientists in the UK. Empirical Ventures was built to solve a specific problem: exceptional scientists often lack investors who speak their language.
Empirical’s Venture Scientist thesis suggests that the most valuable companies of the next century will not be built by generalist entrepreneurs, but by deep domain experts who can navigate the boundary between fundamental research and commercial reality. The commitment from the British Business Bank will allow Empirical Ventures to write high-conviction cheques to these founders across the UK. By combining patient capital with their unique SEIS & EIS Fund and Syndicate, Empirical Ventures is providing the financial fuel for scientists to leave the lab and build technologies that bend the physical world, from novel energy generation and advanced materials to next-generation life sciences and everything in between.
Mark Barry, Senior Investment Director at British Business Bank, said:
We are delighted to expand our commitment to Empirical Ventures. Their team has identified a powerful untapped resource in the UK economy: the ‘Venture Scientist.’ By backing technical founders who are solving hard problems, Empirical is helping to bridge the critical funding gap for science-led businesses outside of London. This partnership ensures that the UK’s brightest scientific minds have the support they need to turn research into category-defining global companies.
Dr. Johnathan Matlock, Co-Founder and General Partner at Empirical Ventures, said:
The greatest companies of the next 30 years will be built by scientists. We call them ‘Venture Scientists’ - founders who bring rigorous scientific methodology to company building. But for too long, these founders have been underestimated or misunderstood by generalist investors. “This £10m commitment from the British Business Bank allows us to back these Venture Scientists with the conviction they deserve. Whether they are in Bristol, Manchester, or Edinburgh, we are here to ensure that the founders capable of rewriting the rules of what’s possible get the resources to do so.
Strategic alignment with UK Industrial Strategy
This commitment directly supports the government’s 2026 Modern Industrial Strategy by unlocking the commercial potential of the UK’s world-leading research base. By focusing on DeepTech and Life Sciences, Empirical Ventures is actively de-risking the "hard science" sector, proving that with the right support, scientific founders can deliver outsized returns and high-skilled regional employment.
Further Information
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Notes to editors
About Empirical Ventures
Empirical Ventures is a specialist UK-based pre-seed to seed deep science fund that backs venture scientists building companies rooted in fundamental scientific or engineering breakthroughs. As a sector agnostic investor, portfolio companies span sectors such as AI/future of compute, quantum, advanced materials, biotech, climate tech and robotics. Led by PhD operators from the core scientific team behind one of the largest spinout exits in UK history, now serial entrepreneurs and investors.
About the British Business Bank
The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.
The British Business Bank’s core programmes support £23bn of finance to almost 64,000 smaller businesses.
British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at british-business-bank.co.uk.
The transaction described above does not constitute or imply any endorsement, warranty or recommendation by the UK government, the British Business Bank plc, its subsidiaries or any other party of Empirical Ventures or its products or services.
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