# Highlands and Islands Enterprise

> Highlands and Islands Enterprise is a VC fund backing Biotechnology. See 9 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Inverness, Sweden
- Total investments: 9
- Last investment: Feb 2025
- Lead investor: 56%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/highlands-&-islands-enterprise/
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/HIEScotland
- Website: http://www.hie.co.uk
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/highlandsandislandsenterprise

Highlands and Islands Enterprise is a VC fund in Inverness focused on Biotechnology and Health Care. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is the Scottish Government's economic and community development agency for a diverse region which covers more than half of Scotland and is home to around 450,000 people.HIE's role is to develop sustainable economic growth across the region. To achieve this it creates infrastructure for futureinvestment, assists large and small businesses with growth aspirations and has a unique role strengthening communities, particularly in fragile areas. As part of this HIE supports communities to acquire and develop land and other assets.HIE supports the growth ambitions of business and social enterprise clients by creating close working relationships in order to accelerate growth in turnover, profitability, wage levels, exports and therefore Gross Value Added (GVA) in the HIE area.HIE also invests in transformational projects across the region to make the Highlands and Islands a more competitive and attractive place to live, work, study and grow.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Shizune tracks 2 team members at Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/highlands-and-islands-enterprise?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 3 | 33% |
| Health Care | 2 | 22% |
| Food and Beverage | 2 | 22% |
| Mining | 1 | 11% |
| Mineral | 1 | 11% |

20 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Funding Round | 3 | 33% |
| Grant | 2 | 22% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 2 | 22% |
| Series B | 1 | 11% |
| Series C | 1 | 11% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 78% |
| United States | 1 | 11% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Amanda Millen | Development Producer | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/amanda-millen |
| Stuart Black | CEO | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/stuart-black-b79f |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Isle of Skye Sea Salt | Isle of Skye Sea Salt Company is a sea salt producer. | $7.2K | Venture - Series Unknown | Feb 24, 2025 |  |
| Lochaline Quartz Sand | Lochaline Quartz Sand is a mining company that produces sand with an extremely high silica content. | $287.4K |  | Dec 19, 2024 |  |
| Dunnet Bay Distillers | Dunnet Bay Distillers creates spirits which reflect the caithness way. Unsurprisingly they are located in the spectacular bay of Dunnet, where the freshest of air and the finest of water are in abundance. They hand distil slowly, thoughtfully and passionately to create their exceptional products.Working with the oldest still makers in the worldtheir bespoke pot still, Elizabeth, has been uniquely designed just to create their spirits. Using a traditional handmade copper head along with botanical vapour basket, it is a small batch process of 500 litres. This ensures tremendous care can be applied to achieve best results. Each bottle is filled, hand-waxed, batch numbered and signed before it leaves their distillery. | $205.1K | Grant | Nov 02, 2022 |  |
| Ocean Kinetics | Ocean Kinetics provides solutions in marine works, metal works, fabrication, project management, and design. | $175.5K | Venture - Series Unknown | Oct 04, 2021 |  |
| New Wave Foods | New Wave Foods is a provider of algae and plant-based food used to preserve and enrich seafood traditions. Its foods are sustainable, plant-based shrimp alternatives made from sustainably sourced seaweed, soy protein, and natural flavors which contain the eight amino acids that are found in meats that enable consumers to enjoy low calories and zerocholesterol healthy products. |  | Grant | Jun 29, 2020 |  |
| MGB Biopharma | MGB Biopharma Limited is a biopharmaceutical company established to develop a completely new class of anti-infective medicines based upon compounds which are DNA Minor Groove Binders (MGB)The company has an exceptionally experienced team from both pharma and biotech sectors and is dedicating its focus initially to the development of smallmolecules with specific antibacterial efffects against resistant bacteriaBy selecting a new class of antibacterial, the company believes the novel mode of action should prove to be very potent against bacteria as these target organisms will lack any inherent resistance, unlike that typically facing new drugs which are the result of modifications from existing classes of drugs used to treat bacterial infection | $1.7M |  | Sep 14, 2018 |  |
| AccuNostics | AccuNostics is a UK-based medical diagnostics company, operating at the cutting edge of the self monitoring and point-of-care industry. | $5.2M |  | Sep 15, 2011 |  |
| Aquapharm Biodiscovery | Aquapharm is an innovative drug discovery company focussed on developing new products founded on the chemical diversity of marine micro-organisms. Their core focus is the development of novel pharmaceutical compounds leading to the development of novel antibiotics, targeting both Gram negative and Gram positive infections. In addition,Aquapharm's development pipeline is also fed by an active discovery portfolio of anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories and novel biocatalysts. | $6.4M | Series C | Apr 05, 2010 |  |
| Aquapharm Biodiscovery | Aquapharm is an innovative drug discovery company focussed on developing new products founded on the chemical diversity of marine micro-organisms. Their core focus is the development of novel pharmaceutical compounds leading to the development of novel antibiotics, targeting both Gram negative and Gram positive infections. In addition,Aquapharm's development pipeline is also fed by an active discovery portfolio of anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories and novel biocatalysts. | $5.2M | Series B | Jul 26, 2007 |  |

9 of 9 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Aescap Venture](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/aescap-venture) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Nesta Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nesta-investments) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Tate & Lyle Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/tate-lyle-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Archangels](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/archangel-informal-investments-limited) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Barwell Plc](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/barwell-plc) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Delta Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/delta-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## FAQ

### What does Highlands and Islands Enterprise invest in?

Highlands and Islands Enterprise invests primarily in Biotechnology, Health Care and Food and Beverage startups, most often at Funding Round and Grant stage. Most of the 9 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact Highlands and Islands Enterprise?

Public channels for Highlands and Islands Enterprise include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Highlands and Islands Enterprise?

The team at Highlands and Islands Enterprise includes Amanda Millen (Development Producer) and Stuart Black (CEO). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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