From left: Jayne Brady, partner, Kernel Capital; Dr Bob Pollard, CEO, Causeway Sensors; William McCulla, director of corporate finance, Invest NI; and Odhran McNeilly, business adviser, Bank of Ireland UK. Image: Kernel Capital
Causeway Sensors raises investment to address the global problem of antibiotic resistance.
Causeway Sensors has raised £1.2m in an investment led by the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund in syndication with QUBIS and private investors.
Causeway Sensors has also availed of Invest Northern Ireland (NI) support for research and development, and further funding was secured from Innovate UK.
‘Causeway’s applied research builds on Northern Ireland’s world-class leadership in this domain, and they now have the capability to meet a global need in delivering an innovative and efficient point-of-care system’
– JAYNE BRADY
Causeway Sensors uses groundbreaking, patented nanotechnology to enable pathogen detection, opening pathways to detect fatal diseases within the healthcare sector.
Its solution addresses the global problem of antibiotic resistance, which, according to the World Health Organisation, is at dangerously high levels and is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development today.
“Causeway Sensors recently took a strategic decision to focus its groundbreaking technology on applications in the medical diagnostics market,” explained CEO Dr Bob Pollard.
“This investment validates this new strategy and we look forward to growing our team, developing the technology and exploring new market opportunities.”
Novel solution to ineffective use of antibiotics
The Queen’s University Belfast spin-out has developed a novel method of distinguishing between a viral and bacterial infection in a real-time point-of-care setting, enabling a reduction in the ineffective use of antibiotics for viral infections.
“Bank of Ireland is delighted to support the ambitious and important work of Causeway Sensors with the commercialisation of this new diagnostic breakthrough,” said Gavin Kennedy, head of business banking NI at Bank of Ireland UK.
The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund NI was designed to help SMEs in Northern Ireland to accelerate their growth. Invest NI has committed £15m of funding to this fund, which is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.
“Causeway Sensors is a great example of an ambitious company which has used a range of Invest NI support to help it develop its pioneering technology, which it is now targeting at the global biosensor industry,” said William McCulla, Invest NI’s director of corporate finance.
“Causeway’s applied research builds on Northern Ireland’s world-class leadership in this domain, and they now have the capability to meet a global need in delivering an innovative and efficient point-of-care system,” added Jayne Brady, partner, Kernel Capital.
