The funding strengthens Empirical’s strategy to fund science-led startups, helping technical founders commercialise breakthroughs in energy, materials, and life sciences.
Empirical Ventures, a specialist deeptech Fund, has secured an additional £10 million British Business Bank commitment to back the UK’s best venture scientists, bringing its total support to £15 million.
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 Venture Scientist’s 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.
By focusing on Deetech 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.
The commitment from the British Business Bank, via its Regional Angels Programme, 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 solve hard problems, Empirical is helping to bridge the critical funding gap for science-led businesses outside 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 £10 million 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.”
This commitment directly supports the UK government’s 2026 Modern Industrial Strategy by unlocking the commercial potential of the UK’s world-leading research base.