Ada Ventures is a venture capital fund that finds and funds extraordinary talent building breakthrough ideas for the hardest problems we face. Ada Ventures invests in UK companies at pre-seed and seed across climate, healthcare & ageing, economic empowerment.  Ada Ventures looks for underserved or unserved markets and opportunities for significant global scale and impact with a technology moat  and defensible tech, specifically a breakthrough idea.  Ada Ventures is named after Ada Lovelace, the pioneering computer programmer, and mathematician, who was never recognised during the time she lived for what she contributed to the advancement of technology and science.

Ada Ventures

Ascension is an early-stage VC built by exited entrepreneurs to back the next generation of tech and impact founders. Run by an experienced and diverse team of successful entrepreneurs, we have been relentlessly dedicated to finding the UK’s best Seed-stage startups since 2014. Ascension benefits from the active industry connections essential for the sourcing and development of deal-flow and due diligence. The team has co-invested with the UK’s leading angels and VCs, key to securing follow-on funding as the portfolio businesses move to their next stage of growth. We believe in building an inclusive, community driven brand that can benefit the wider UK tech ecosystem and strive to work with conviction, integrity, humour, and humility.

Ascension

We are a double bottom line venture capital firm founded to support underrepresented entrepreneurs across Europe.

Impact X Capital Partners

Fuel Ventures is a technology fund focusing on marketplaces, fintech, platforms, and SaaS startups in the UK.  The Fuel Ventures Portfolio (the ''Fund'') invests at the most lucrative early stages of internet technology companies that have exceptional growth potential and substantial returns can be achieved. The Fund focuses on marketplaces, platforms, and SaaS business models, identifying investments in seed and growth stages. Bringing together great entrepreneurs into an environment of innovation, collaboration, and support in RocketSpace in the heart of London. We provide a unique combination of mentorship, experience, and access to the investment required to drive a business and ideas to success. Founded in 2015 by entrepreneur and investor Mark Pearson, Fuel Ventures is focused on bringing a unique approach to early-stage investment.

Fuel Ventures

Atomico is an international investment firm that focuses on helping disruptive technology companies scale globally. It partners with technology founders at the Seed stage and beyond with a particular focus on Europe, leveraging deep operational experience to supercharge their growth. The company's team of founders, investors, and operational leaders have been responsible for global expansion, hiring, and marketing at companies from Skype, Google, and Twitter to Wise and Snowflake. It specializes in seed, startup, Series A, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, and growth capital investments.   Atomico was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in London, England, with offices in Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm

Atomico

Plug and Play is a seed and early-stage investor focused on great teams leading emerging growth companies.  Plug and Play runs 12 industry-specific accelerator programs twice a year, that acts as a platform for major corporations and high quality startups to connect and collaborate.  Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Plug and Play participates in Seed, Angel and Series A funding where they often co-invest with their strategic partners. Through years of experience and as part of their network, Plug and Play has put together a world-class network of serial entrepreneurs, strategic investors, and industry leaders who actively assist the firm with its successful and growing investment portfolio.  SEED ROUND. Plug and Play participates in seed round investing through a program called Startup Camp. Startup Camp is a 10-week program based in Silicon Valley for top-notch entrepreneurs to work intensively on building out their business model. Select startups will refine their business models and prototypes with help from a combination of structured workshops, speaker series and mentorship sessions, as well as active coaching from their investment team. At the culmination of Startup Camp, founders will have crystalized their business plans and pitched their company to the venture capital community at EXPO Demo Day.''  ANGEL ROUND Plug and Play makes angel round investments throughout the year, sourced from their monthly Plug and Play Angels (PAPA) sessions. They are partnered with local angel investors in Silicon Valley who participate in PAPA to find the most promising startups and best new technologies.  SERIES A. Series A typical Series A round is in the range of $2 million to $10 million, and is intended to provide operating capital for the company for six months to two years. This round capitalizes the company as it develops its products, performs initial marketing and branding, acquires talent, and conducts other early-stage business operations. It is in this stage that Plug and Play will co-invest with over 180 venture capital partners.  Plug and Play has helped grow market leaders such as PayPal, Danger, Google, DropBox, LendingClub, Zoosk, SoundHound, CreditSesame, Skytree, and has over 400 more early-stage startups in its portfolio.

Plug and Play

Inclusive Ventures Lab is an accelerator focused on companies founded for multicultural and women-led startups. The Lab building a community of technology-enabled startups and early-stage technology led by multicultural and women entrepreneurs. It provides early-stage companies with a wide range of benefits, including an equity investment from Morgan Stanley. Multicultural Innovation Lab also provides curriculum customized for each startup including branding & marketing, sales & finance & strategy, and provide sessions with industry experts. it also brings other elements to help the entrepreneurs scale and grow their companies. The Lab's goal is to provide these founders with additional contributions toward their future success by leveraging their resources, expertise, and expansive & global networks that will attract the capital needed to scale and grow.

Inclusive Ventures Lab

Arve Capital is the venture capital arm of a German single family office with an investment focus on European early-stage technology companies in the area of health and well-being. Based on the entrepreneurial roots in the healthcare sector, Arve Capital is a dedicated long-term partner for passionate founders on their mission to ensure and promote healthy lives.

Arve Capital

Arāya Ventures is a venture capital investment firm that prefers to invest in companies operating in the pre-seed and seed sectors.

Arāya Ventures

R.grid

R.grid offers AI-powered solutions for automating clinical trial management, including patient engagement and administrative workflows. Its products, Inclusive and TrialEngine, streamline processes from trial preparation to completion, reducing delays and errors. This comprehensive approach enhances the overall success of clinical trials by connecting all stages in a single platform.

Research Grid provides AI-powered automation software for clinical trial management, streamlining administrative workflows and data management processes. The company's technology consists of two main products: Inclusive and TrialEngine. As of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.finsmes.com/2024/11/research-grid-raises-6-5m-in-funding.html#google_vignette">November 2024</a>, the Inclusive platform managed patient recruitment and engagement by connecting researchers to a network of over 91,000 global communities covering 2,050 medical conditions across more than 300 million patients. TrialEngine handles trial administration, data extraction, protocol generation, and reporting workflows. Together, these products automate back-office tasks that consume significant time and resources in clinical trials.&nbsp;

Incorporating technology to improve efficiency and success rate of clinical trials

Clinical Trial Technology

Research Grid provides AI-powered automation software for clinical trial management, streamlining administrative workflows and data management processes. The company's technology consists of two main products: Inclusive and TrialEngine. As of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.finsmes.com/2024/11/research-grid-raises-6-5m-in-funding.html#google_vignette">November 2024</a>, the Inclusive platform managed patient recruitment and engagement by connecting researchers to a network of over 91,000 global communities covering 2,050 medical conditions across more than 300 million patients. TrialEngine handles trial administration, data extraction, protocol generation, and reporting workflows. Together, these products automate back-office tasks that consume significant time and resources in clinical trials.&nbsp;As of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/research-grid-funds-clinical-trial/">November 2024</a>, Research Grid's customers reported 98% efficiency gains, 45% cost savings, and a 145% increase in patient engagement rates. The company's solutions help reduce clinical trial timelines by several months and address costly delays due to administrative tasks.Key customers and partnershipsThe company noted that as of&nbsp;<a href="https://rgrid.tech/">November 2024</a>, its platform supported clinical trials operated by GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Merck, moderna, Roche, Sanofi, Unilever, Walgreens, AstraZeneca, Bayer, and Boehringer Ingelheim.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Headquartered in Amsterdam, Castor is a cloud-based e-clinical data platform that can be used for a range of tasks and processes during a clinical trial. It offers four solutions: 1) electronic data capture (EDC) to capture and process data from multiple sources including researchers, 2) electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) to collect and manage patient-reported data on a centralized platform, 3) e-consent - to enable patients to be recruited, screened, and enrolled remotely, and 4) a decentralized clinical trials (DCT) platform to assist operators with managing DCT technologies and devices through a central platform. The company’s solutions are targeted at industries like biotech and pharma, diagnostics, and clinical research organizations. Its solutions are built in line with industry-standard compliance and data protection standards including HIPAA, GDPR, and ISO 27001.Castor aimed to collect enough clinical trial research data to enable the reuse of data for AI-driven clinical trials, which would lower the costs of operating clinical trials and reduce the time taken to bring new drugs to market.Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2024, the company had supported 14,000+ studies and 6 million patients through clinical trials across 90+ countries, since launching in 2007. In terms of therapeutic areas, Castor had supported a range of different areas, including oncology, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. The company had been engaged by 500+ organizations, including the World Health Organization, Click Therapeutics, and Stryker. It was the first to incorporate machine learning into its system for the identification of Covid-19 patients. The company offered free access to its system for Covid-19 research projects, with over 200 projects using the platform as of June 2022. In February 2024, the company partnered with Microsoft to use Microsoft Azure to bring modern AI to clinical trials. The feature was released to help Castor users develop their studies faster by simplifying complex tasks in the study build process. The company additionally noted that it was planning to release its first in a line of Practical AI features to all its users in public Beta. Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 45 million in Series B funding in July 2021, led by Eight Roads Ventures and F-Prime Capital. The funds were earmarked for product development, interoperability with partner systems, and market research on decentralized trials. The company had a headcount of 150 at the time of the Series B and was planning to expand to 200 by the end of 2021.

Castor

Florence Healthcare offers a platform for clinical trial management. It has four key components: 1) SiteLink to start-up and monitor remote clinical sites, 2) eBinders to digitize and store research binders, 3) eConsent to simplify and digitize the consent process, and 4) Electronic Trial Master File to digitize the storage and transfer of files between sites and research sponsors. The platform is compliant with standard industry requirements including HIPAA, 21 C.F.R Part 11, ICF/GCP, and GDPR.Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2024, Florence supported over 18,000 research sites, across 55+ countries, with key customers including Pfizer. The usage of the company’s software tripled in 2020, driven by an industry shift toward digitalization as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In February 2022, the company was ranked as the best clinical trial platform out of a group of 190 for ease of setup, ease of use, and customer support.Florence partnered with Greenphire, a company focusing on patient convenience and financial management for clinical trials, in Janauary 2024. Through the partnership, Florence's platform will be integrated with Greenphire's to improve payment systems within clinical trials. Benefits of the partnership included reduced manual work for sites, faster payments, and better visibility of site activity for sponsors and Contract Research Organizations (CROs). Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 80 million in Series C funding in May 2021 led by Insight Partners. The proceeds were to be used to scale up its sales and marketing teams and improve the value proposition of the platform by reducing the time required by customers to implement and manage clinical trials.

Florence Healthcare

Huma is a UK- and US-based clinical trial tech startup that provides a digital platform to manage clinical trials, including decentralized clinical trials. The platform can be used throughout the clinical trial process, including patient recruitment, screening, electronic consent, clinical outcome assessments, patient-reported outcomes, and telemedicine. The platform is built up to industry standards in data privacy and security, including ISO 27001, 21 C.F.R. Part 11, and TxP.In June 2023, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19352">received FDA 510(k) Class II FDA clearance </a>for its configurable disease-agnostic platform, including its cardiovascular risk score algorithm. The company received this FDA clearance in partnership with Health Canada and it allows Huma's platform to be used to monitor patients of all ages with any condition, including pediatrics and pregnancy. The Class II clearance also enables the platform to host algorithms that provide automated AI-driven data analytics for diagnosis, screening, clinical decision-making, predictions on health outcomes, and recommendations on dosage.In July 2024, the company was <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31552">estimated to be valued at nearly USD 1 billion</a> when it secured a Series D investment of USD 80 million. Key customers and partnershipsSome of the key partners working with Huma include AstraZeneca, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Bayer, Stanford University, and the University of Cambridge. As of July 2024, the platform supported 3,000+ hospitals and clinics, screened over 35 million individuals, and had 1.8 million active users across 70 countries. Huma was awarded the 2021 Prix Galien Award, which is widely considered the “Nobel Prize” for pharmaceuticals and life sciences.The company announced a partnership with Xyla Elective Care in June 2022, to provide support to the UK’s National Health Service in delivering and managing virtual wards.

Huma

Based in California and founded in 2015, Medable is a digital clinical trial management platform with a range of modules for different processes. These modules include a decentralized clinical trial platform to support decentralized trials using remote tools for data gathering, monitoring, televisits, and consent; digital patient screening to screen patients remotely and at scale; e-consent to enable patients to digitally consent for clinical trials; electronic clinical outcome assessments; and patient-reported outcomes to document data in real time and provide easy access for researchers. It also includes remote patient monitoring to make it easy for patients to record and share data with clinical research teams.Medable operates on a SaaS business model, with customers having the option of selecting and deploying only the modules required as part of their uniquely customized solution.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32647">August 2024</a>, Medable launched 'Medable Studio', an all-in-one application for configuring, translating, validating, and launching electronic clinical outcome assessment (eCOA) Plus solutions (which include eCOA, e-consent, televisits, and sensors) into clinical trials. The no-code suite aimed to simplify the complex eCOA launch process, offering biopharmaceutical companies greater control and transparency. Medable Studio includesda point-and-click builder for creating assessments and instruments, a visual schedule of assessments builder, a translation workbench, and a content library. The platform enabled users to rapidly build and launch complex clinical trials, with the ability to create protocol-fit study designs in hours instead of months.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35913">November 2024</a>, Medable launched Medable AI, a suite of GenAI capabilities integrated into its Studio platform. The suite aimed to streamline digital and decentralized clinical trials for sponsors and research organizations. The AI suite features automated eCOA creation that converts existing outcome assessments into a digital format, a ChatGPT-like interface for editing assessments, and scalable assessment-generation capabilities.&nbsp;As of <a href="https://hitconsultant.net/2024/10/30/medable-partners-with-google-cloud-to-accelerate-clinical-trials/">October 2024</a>, the company offered its platforms across 60 countries and was used across 300 decentralized and hybrid clinical trials. The company’s platform is compliant with industry standards, including HIPAA, FDA’s 21 CFR Part 11, and GDPR.Key customers and partnershipsAs of <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240607926468/en/Medable-Wins-2024-Prix-Galien-UK-Award-for-Best-Digital-Health-Solution">June 2024</a>, Medable claimed to work with 14 out of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, in addition to working with a range of partners, including Cognizant, Accenture, Oracle, and PwC.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35456">October 2024</a>, the company partnered with Google Cloud to offer its decentralized clinical trial platform on Google Cloud's marketplace. The collaboration combined Medable's clinical trial technology with Google Cloud's infrastructure and AI capabilities to streamline trial processes.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29843">May 2024</a>, Medable partnered with Masimo, a medical technology provider, to incorporate new wearable devices in clinical research. Medable announced it would include the MightySat Rx pulse oximeter by Masimo in its platform for various major clinical trials, particularly in lung and breast cancer research.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22394">October 2023</a>, the company partnered with Pluto Health, a healthcare coordination company, to enhance the clinical trial experience for participants and improve data collection during trials. Through the partnership, the companies aimed to connect patients to the right medical resources including access to clinical trials and home delivery of medication.&nbsp;In <a href="https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/gsk-taps-medable-decentralized-clinical-trials-patient-diversity">September 2022</a>, the company announced a four year agreement with GlaxoSmithKline to use Medable’s platform for clinical trials across multiple products. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Medable

Headquartered in New York, Obvio Health provides a full service for clients, supporting them throughout the clinical trial process from the design and recruitment stages to outcome measurement and reporting. In addition to its technological platform, the company provides professional services to execute clinical trials using its in-house clinical operations team. The platform caters to 17 therapeutic areas, including cardiology, oncology, respiratory, men's and women's health, dermatology, gi, hepatology, mental health, oral health, and infectious disease (Covid-19). The platform is compliant with industry standards including 21 CFR Part 11, ICH-GDP, GDPR, and ISO 27001.According to the company, its platform was designed from the ground up to cater to digital trials run by virtual clinical teams, which resulted in faster patient recruitment (three months for Obvio compared to 12 months for physical site trials). In January 2022, the company launched an augmented electronic patient-reported outcome (augmented ePRO) module, which incorporates AI and manual scoring by experts/clinicians. The company claims this improves the accuracy and quality of data collected.In April 2024, the ObvioHealth launched ObvioGo 2.0, an enhanced platform and mobile application designed to meet the unique needs of trial sites and sponsors. The upgraded platform allows the combination of hybrid and virtual trial designs within one study. It includes features such as the ability to create site-specific workflows, integration with other clinical systems, and a streamlined translation process. Additional features include a built-in virtual assistance team, COACH, for trial tasks support and a patient identifier tool for patient registration and data correlation.As of June 2024, the platform catered to 17 therapeutic areas, including cardiology, oncology, respiratory, men's and women's health, dermatology, GI, hepatology, mental health, oral health, and infectious disease (Covid-19). The platform is compliant with industry standards including 21 CFR Part 11, ICH-GDP, GDPR, and ISO 27001.Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2024, Obvio Health’s client base included companies like GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Bayer, Danone, and General Mills. As of June 2024, the company’s operations were spread over 28 countries and had supported obtaining consent from 40,000+ patients across 40 clinical trials since its launch.In March 2022, Obvio partnered with Renovia to conduct the first fully virtual trial in urogynaecology, based on Renovia’s Leva device. The device helped patients with performing kegel exercises more effectively, in addition to monitoring compliance over the trial period.In November 2023, Obvio then partnered with Chemist Warehouse, the largest retail pharmacy chain in Australia, to improve the reach and efficiency of clinical trials. Through the partnership, Chemist Warehouse agreed to promote ObvioHealth-managed trials to its customers in Australia, using both offline and online channels. Additionally, ObvioHealth agreed to utilize Chemist Warehouse's Telehealth services for studies that require clinician assessments. The collaboration aimed to increase the awareness and convenience of clinical trials, addressing two major hurdles in participant recruitment. The long-term goal of the partnership was to expedite the introduction of innovative therapies to the market more efficiently and economically.&nbsp;

Obvio Health

Companies offering data and workflow management platforms and solutions to assist with the operational management of a clinical trial, including site management, monitoring processes in terms of risk and documentation, and payment automation

Companies using remote patient monitoring tools and other connectivity solutions to enable remote collection of patient data and monitoring and run trials virtually without requiring the patient to be physically present at the clinical trial site

Companies that offer workflow management platforms that are used to manage logistics tasks and processes for clinical trials, primarily the randomization of assigning patients in a clinical trial and automation of logistics workflows based on clinical trial data

This is the use of software, incorporating AI and machine learning technology to improve the matching process of patients with suitable clinical trials

Companies that offer software solutions for identifying and evaluating potential trial sites, along with documentation and workflow management systems to complete the processes before launching, including electronic patient consent and other required regulatory tasks

Includes companies that provide digital data management platforms to collect and store patient reported outcome data. These platforms are also incorporating data analytics to help understand the results and identify trends and patterns. Additionally, the platforms enable connectivity with remote monitoring devices, including the Medical Internet of Things

Companies that provide software tools that help with the design of clinical trials, including identifying protocol violations, collecting participant input on potential design ideas for the trial, and crowdsourcing of protocol ideas for clinical trials

Companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for Clinical Trial Tech

Startups in this hub use IoT to support report patient monitoring and data gathering

AI/ML algorithms can be used to automate the analysis of patient data

Offers digital platforms that accelerate clinical trials and evaluations

Most CTT platforms are offered on a B2B basis to companies carrying out clinical trials

Startups in this hub seek to improve clinical trial diversity by including underrepresented communities

Clinical Trial Technology providers incorporate GenAI to enhance their platform’s capabilities and utility

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Research Grid, a clinical trial automation platform, has successfully raised USD 6.5 million in seed funding. The funding was led by Fuel Ventures and saw participation from several other firms including Ada Ventures, Arve Capital, Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, Plug and Play Ventures, Arāya Ventures, Atomico Angels, and Ascension Ventures.
The funds will be allocated towards various sectors within the company such as research and development, AI automation development, expansion of the engineering team, enhancement of marketing and sales operations, and increasing the company's footprint in the intensive US and Asian markets.
Research Grid's products, namely the Inclusive and TrialEngine platforms, assist operators of clinical trials in managing the entire lifecycle of these trials - right from pretrial operations to their conclusion. The vast access provided by the Inclusive platform expands up to 91,000 global communities and covers a range of around 2,050 medical conditions. There have been positive reviews reported by customers who had noticeable efficiency gains (98%), cost savings (45%), and a considerable increase in patient engagement by 145%.

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