# University of Birmingham

> University of Birmingham is a VC fund backing Biotechnology and Energy. See 6 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 6
- Last investment: Nov 2022
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=12662&trk=edu-up-nav-menu-home
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/unibirmingham
- Website: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unibirmingham

University of Birmingham is a VC fund in Birmingham focused on Biotechnology and Energy. Birmingham has been challenging and developing great minds for more than a century. Characterised by a tradition of innovation, research at the University has broken new ground, pushed forward the boundaries of knowledge and made an impact on people’s lives.We continue this tradition today and have ambitions for a future that will embed ourwork and recognition of the Birmingham name on the international stage.Universities are never complete. They develop as new challenges and opportunities occur. At Birmingham we innovate, we push the frontiers of understanding; we ask new research questions, we turn theory through experiment into practice – because that’s what great universities do.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for University of Birmingham. Shizune tracks 9 team members at University of Birmingham. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/university-of-birmingham?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 2 | 33% |
| Energy | 1 | 17% |
| Chemical | 1 | 17% |
| Genetics | 1 | 17% |
| Wireless | 1 | 17% |

12 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 2 | 33% |
| Seed | 1 | 17% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 17% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 1 | 17% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monica Guise | Director Of Facilities | 0 | — |
| Russell Beale | Professor of Human-Computer Interaction | 0 | — |
| Alicia El Haj | Interdisciplinary Chair of Cell Engineering | 0 | — |
| David Bailey | Senior Lecturer | 0 | — |
| Joao Pedro Magalhaes | Professor | 0 | — |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Chromatwist | Chromatwist is a provider of fluorescent probes for imaging applications and next generation fluorescent compounds. | $572.3K | Seed | Nov 14, 2022 |  |
| Chromatwist | Chromatwist is a provider of fluorescent probes for imaging applications and next generation fluorescent compounds. | $539K | Seed | Apr 28, 2021 |  |
| Linear Diagnostics | Linear Diagnostics Limited (LDL) is a diagnostics company based on a novel technology that allows wide range of molecular diagnostics tests to be carried out using a simple optical system. The technology provides significant advantages over the current state of the art allowing a more rapid detection of multiple targets using a single simplereagent | $1.1M | Venture - Series Unknown | Feb 24, 2021 |  |
| Tyseley Energy Park | Tyseley Energy Park develops an Energy Innovation Zone (EIZ) to help Tyseley and Birmingham overcome the severe energy business and social challenges it currently faces. The TEP EIZ reduces emissions and stimulates growth and will integrate low carbon technologies and infrastructure needed to support new approaches to clean energy. | $8.4M |  | May 23, 2018 |  |
| Smart Antenna Technologies | Smart Antenna Technologies (SAT) is a spinout company from the University of Birmingham. The team have designed, developed and patented a pioneering smart antenna technology. The market for this highly scalable technology is the global cellular handset market. SAT's remarkable innovation has led to the creation of a significant number ofpatent applications, both filed and in process.Today, handset manufacturers are seeking an effective antenna solution suitable for implementing the next generation of cellular handset technologies, known as Long Term Evolution (4G LTE). Currently, they are unable to achieve physically the desired antenna performance in a size that fits a cellular handset package at an acceptable volume cost. Current implementations from the leading handset manufacturers employ typically six antennas. The highly compact SAT technology replaces all existing antennas—DVB-H, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GSM, GPS, 3G multi-bands and 3.9/4G LTE—with just one. This single SAT device provides significantly lower costs, is smaller in size and offers much needed performance gains over existing designs and technology. | $1.3M | Series A | Jan 19, 2017 |  |
| Cytox | Cytox have developed a simple genetic based blood test for the assessment of risk and diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease in the very early stages. Alzheimer's Disease affects over 26 million people world-wide and is a growing condition as people live longer. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's Disease, but there are largeinternational initiatives underway to find treatments with many drugs in clinical development. Cytox are commercially launching their tests in conjunction with Affymetrix (part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) to support Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies developing novel therapeutics. | $4.6M | Series A | Jan 30, 2013 |  |

6 of 6 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- angelgroups — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Esperante Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/esperante-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Future Planet Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/future-planet-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/greater-birmingham-and-solihull-lep) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Innovate UK](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/innovate-u-k-) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Mercia Asset Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mercia-technologies) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does University of Birmingham invest in?

University of Birmingham invests primarily in Biotechnology, Energy and Chemical startups, most often at Series A and Seed stage. Most of the 6 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 University of Birmingham?

Public channels for University of Birmingham 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 University of Birmingham?

The team at University of Birmingham includes Monica Guise (Director Of Facilities), Russell Beale (Professor of Human-Computer Interaction) and Alicia El Haj (Interdisciplinary Chair of Cell Engineering), among 9 team members tracked by Shizune. 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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