Empirical Ventures

Empirical Ventures Research Investment Thesis Empirical Ventures is a Bristol-based specialist deep tech and life sciences venture capital firm founded in 2024 by Dr Johnathan Matlock (PhD, Organic Chemistry) and Dr Ben Miles (PhD, Physics). The firm backs 'Venture Scientists' — technical founders who apply rigorous scientific methodology to company building. Their core thesis is that the greatest transformative companies of the next 30 years will be built by scientists who combine exceptional scientific talent with innate entrepreneurial drive. The firm focuses on breakthrough technologies developed from fundamental research, targeting companies that are genuinely creating new markets or radically improving existing ones. They seek teams that are 'multidisciplinary scientists with a boldness of approach and commitment to creating impact.' They explicitly target university spinouts and deep science companies that are difficult to diligence and value at early stages — a gap they believe mainstream investors systematically undervalue. Stage Focus Empirical Ventures invests exclusively at the earliest stages of company formation: Pre-Seed: The very first institutional capital for companies still developing prototypes or validating fundamental science Seed: Initial commercial-stage rounds where companies have demonstrated scientific proof of concept They position themselves as the first institutional investor in portfolio companies. They explicitly lead pre-seed and seed rounds, providing price-setting conviction rather than following other investors. Check Size As an SEIS & EIS fund, initial check sizes are constrained by UK tax-advantaged investment scheme limits. Fund I targets £10M deployed across approximately 20 companies, implying average initial checks of £400K–£750K. Individual investments are sized based on SEIS eligibility (smaller initial cheques) with EIS follow-on capacity for subsequent rounds. Sector Focus Empirical Ventures invests across deep science sectors: Life Sciences & TechBio: Drug discovery, therapeutics, diagnostics, and biology-enabled technologies Photonics & Quantum Hardware: Optical technologies, quantum computing hardware components Advanced Materials: Novel materials with breakthrough performance characteristics Robotics & Automation: Physically intelligent systems for industrial and medical applications AgTech/AgChem: Agricultural chemistry and technology innovations Clean Energy & Climate: Energy transition technologies including novel generation and storage They explicitly avoid consumer software, traditional SaaS, and businesses without fundamental scientific differentiation. Lead Tendency Empirical Ventures leads rounds. Their fund announcement explicitly states they 'lead early-stage deep science rounds,' and they sit on the boards of portfolio companies. This is consistent with their scientific due diligence capability — they can price and lead rounds where other generalist investors lack conviction. Recent Activity Empirical Ventures has been actively deploying from Fund I since launch in April 2024: March 2026: Secured £10M from British Business Bank (Regional Angels Programme), bringing total BBB support to £15M October 2025: Hot Green pre-seed (£1.2M) for ultra-efficient industrial heat pumps September 2025: BoobyBiome seed (£2.5M) for breast milk microbiome infant health products August 2025: EnsiliTech seed (£4.5M) for room-temperature biologics stabilization June 2025: OutSee seed (£1.8M) for AI-powered predictive genomics drug target identification April 2025: OSSTEC seed (£2.5M) for 3D-printed cementless knee implants December 2024: Xgenera seed (£3.5M) for multi-cancer early detection testing November 2024: MintNeuro (£1M) for neural implant semiconductors November 2024: Silveray (£4M) for flexible digital X-ray detectors November 2024: Exciting Instruments (£4M) for high-throughput single-molecule fluorescence measurement May 2024: Signapse seed (£2M) for AI sign language translation April 2024: Neuronostics seed (£2M+) for epilepsy diagnostics software April 2024: WASE seed (£8.5M+) for electro-methanogenic waste-to-energy technology As of early 2026, Empirical Ventures has invested in 13+ portfolio companies with 6 new investments in the preceding 12 months. Portfolio Highlights Notable portfolio companies include: EnsiliTech: Protective silica coatings enabling vaccines and biologics to remain stable at room temperature, eliminating cold chain dependency WASE: Modular electro-methanogenic reactors treating wastewater while generating renewable biogas Neuronostics: BioEP — a patented seizure risk score calculated from routine EEG recordings for epilepsy diagnosis (University of Exeter spinout) Signapse: AI-powered real-time translation between English and British/American Sign Language Argonaute RNA: siRNA-based gene silencing therapies for cardiometabolic and genetic diseases QV Bioelectronics: Implantable electric field therapy device for glioblastoma treatment targeting the tumour resection margin MitoRx Therapeutics: First-in-class small molecules targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases OSSTEC: World's first fully 3D-printed cementless partial knee implant using bone-mimicking lattice technology BoobyBiome: Breast milk microbiome science applied to infant health products Team Dr Johnathan Matlock, Co-Founder & General Partner — PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Bristol. Was an early scientific hire at Ziylo Ltd (Bristol spinout, acquired by Novo Nordisk in 2018 for up to $800M). Now a full-time deep tech VC with over 65 angel investments totalling £6M+, board member at 8 portfolio companies. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnathanmatlock/ Dr Ben Miles, Co-Founder & General Partner — PhD in Physics from the University of Bristol. Also an early hire at Ziylo. Founded Spin Up Science in 2018, a training program that has supported 4,500+ scientists in entrepreneurship and catalysed 200+ deep tech companies across the UK. Co-founded Science Angel Syndicate. LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/drbenmiles Hon. Alexander Fink, Venture Partner — Brings strategic and operational expertise as Venture Partner. Dr Keith Lipman, Venture Partner — PhD in Physics; contributes deep technical expertise in physics-based technologies. Geographic Focus Empirical Ventures invests exclusively in UK companies (required by SEIS/EIS eligibility). Their portfolio skews outside London — Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and other regional innovation hubs — which they identify as an underserved segment of the UK deep tech ecosystem. Decision Process Decisions are made by the two General Partners (Matlock and Miles) with input from Venture Partners. As specialists with PhDs themselves, they conduct deep technical due diligence that generalist investors cannot. They are typically the first institutional investors into companies, often leading pre-seed rounds at company inception. Founder Preferences Empirical Ventures explicitly seeks 'Venture Scientists' — PhD-trained technical founders who have developed deep expertise in their scientific domain and are now applying it commercially. They favor university spinout founders, scientists who have previously published in top journals, and technical founders who can maintain scientific credibility while building commercial organizations. They are particularly attracted to founders who have identified a market gap directly from their research.