GMC Life Sciences Fund by Praetura

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Welcome

Welcome To... GMC Life Sciences Fund by Praetura

The GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura is looking for the next generation of life sciences entrepreneurs. We offer seed and early-stage funding to life sciences businesses located in or relocating to Greater Manchester and Cheshire & Warrington region. In partnership with GMCA, Bruntwood SciTech and Cheshire & Warrington LEP, the Praetura team want to help life sciences founders build the best business they can.
Bruntwood Scitech
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Cheshire & Warrington LEP
Praetura Ventures

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Learn from someone else’s mistakes

Unconditional support doesn’t just come from us. Giving more than money also means connecting you with our operational partners.

Steve Caunce

Chairman

Steve spent 13 years as CEO of FTSE 250 group AO World, the owner of AO.com, and was previously CFO of Phones4U. Steve has significant expertise in scaling businesses, having overseen the rapid growth at both AO World and Phones4U.

As Praetura Ventures’ non-executive chairman, Steve continues to contribute to our success and wider vision to be the VC of choice for early-stage businesses.

Colin Greene

Partner (Portfolio)

Colin has worked for the world’s biggest tech companies, including Apple, Intel and NCR. At Apple’s Cupertino HQ, he led the company’s Consumer Retail business with direct responsibility for a >$10B P&L. He has also held COO and Country CEO for Apple in Tokyo and Seoul. 

Colin now heads up our portfolio growth platform, working closely with our Operational Partners and supporting the portfolio with more than money.

 

Mark Slade

Operational Partner

Mark is the vice chairman of OSTC, a global derivatives trading and education company he co-founded, which has 450 employees in five countries. As vice chairman for the company, Mark champions robust governance, long-term goals and collective excellence at OSTC.

These qualities and Mark’s wealth of experience remain invaluable to his work as an Operational Partner for our portfolio.

Helen Verwoert

Operational Partner

Helen was previously Chief Human Resources Officer for Dr. Martens. As part of the leadership team, she was instrumental in the development of Dr. Martens, taking the brand from family ownership to a sale to the private equity firm Permira, which later culminated in a £3.7bn IPO in 2021.

Helen was also instrumental in restructuring the executive team including recruiting the CEO, CFO and three Regional Presidents, in addition to being the company’s Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

Paul Johnson

Operational Partner

Paul is the co-founder of MPP Global and was CEO for 20 years until its acquisition by AIM-listed Aptitude Software in October 2021. MPP Global is the award-winning international provider of the cloud-based subscription management and billing SaaS platform eSuite. MPP’s clients include Sky, NBC Universal and L’Equipe. 

At exit, MPP Global had grown to over 100 employees plus offshore development teams and £9m ARR. 

Andy Barrow

Partner (Tech)

Andy was the CTO of leading Manchester software business ANS Group Plc, where he led the technology team until the company’s sale to Inflexion Private Equity. As CTO, Andy was responsible for technical strategy across cloud computing, data analytics, application development and managed services. Today Andy oversees our tech investments and wider tech strategy, ensuring Praetura consistently uncovers early-stage opportunities at the forefront of innovation.

Why partner with us?

Choosing a VC partner is a massive step in your journey as a founder. We want to make that step as easy as possible. We also want to make sure Praetura Ventures is right for you...

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Our Track Record

Founder-first approach

Listed as one of the top 20 seed investors in Europe as voted for by portfolio founders. Praetura has a reputation for better founder support.

Life Sciences Leaders

Join a portfolio of North-West life sciences innovators who are changing their sector for the better.

A partnership set for scale

Backed by three LPs from both public and private sector who are uniquely placed to help businesses scale in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire & Warrington region.

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Our Specialisms

Greater Manchester and Cheshire & Warrington Based

Your headquarters must be based in or moving to the region.

Life Sciences Industries

Your business must be in the life sciences sector, this includes BioTech, contract research, diagnostics, HealthTech, medical devices, therapeutics, pharmaceuticals, veterinary and others.

Early-stage funding

We look to invest £50k-£2m into exciting SMEs with high growth potential.

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Join Our Portfolio

Our portfolio spans creators who are building new digital worlds, medical professionals who are redefining personal health and innovators who are giving a voice to victims of harassment. Let us support the exceptional work you do with more than money.

Interested in funding and want to pitch to us?

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