Northern Gritstone, the investment vehicle which backs spinouts from universities in the north of England, is opening an office in San Francisco as it chases more US capital for its portfolio companies. Gritstone was launched in 2021 to invest in companies created from research at the universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. Since then it’s raised £382m and expanded its remit to include companies coming out of the University of Liverpool. The investor is hiring for a venture partner in the US, who will be tasked with giving portfolio companies access to a network, capital and business development opportunities, according to The Times. It does not plan to invest in the US. Gritstone plans to spend around $1m on its new office and hiring.

CEO Duncan Johnson told the newspaper: “We want to get more US capital [...] it means you can grow quicker, because [the US is] better at procuring, and their risk appetite for [investing in] technology is higher. It allows us to recruit more talent into our businesses.” He added: “[UK companies] trade at a discount in the US [...] and capital is good at finding opportunities. But you've got to make the effort to go and make it easy for them.”

Its portfolio includes enzyme engineering spinout Imperagen, photonics chip company Optalysys and semiconductor scaleup Pragmatic Semiconductor. Gritstone does not plan to invest directly in the US, focusing instead on providing network access and business development support.

Sifted reached out to Northern Gritstone for comment. The expansion underscores growing interest from UK spinout investors in tapping US markets for growth and funding.