Biotech Magnitude Biosciences raises £1.3m led by Northstar Ventures with Maven
This article covers Magnitude Biosciences, a Durham biotech startup spun out of Durham University, which has raised £1.3m in a seed funding round led by Northstar Ventures to expand its VivoScan whole-organism drug-discovery platform. The funding will be used to scale the platform, purchase equipment and automation, grow commercial activity with pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms and hire staff to support faster whole-organism screening as an alternative to traditional animal models.
Magnitude Biosciences, a Durham biotech startup spun out of Durham University, has raised £1.3m in a seed funding round led by Northstar Ventures to expand its VivoScan whole-organism drug-discovery platform. The cash will be used to scale the platform, buy equipment and automation, grow commercial activity with global pharmaceutical companies and hire additional staff — a sign of continued investment into alternatives to traditional animal models.
Why it matters
The deal matters because it underlines growing demand for faster, more predictive early-stage drug-discovery methods. Magnitude’s approach aims to shorten timelines and reduce costs by screening compounds in whole living organisms rather than in isolated cells or mammalian models. That could help drug developers filter out ineffective or toxic candidates earlier, particularly in areas such as ageing, longevity and neurodegenerative disease where conventional models have struggled.
The company also gains access to a £217,000 Innovate UK Investor Partnership grant alongside the equity investment, providing a mix of public and private support common in UK life-sciences funding.
Inside the product
Magnitude runs drug-discovery studies in whole organisms using hundreds of the nematode C. elegans. Its VivoScan™ platform combines high-throughput biology with advanced imaging, machine learning, agentic AI, automation and robotics to generate whole-organism readouts in weeks rather than years.
Patented WormGazer® technology underpins the platform. According to the company, it has delivered more than 120 projects for clients across drug discovery, health and nutrition, and ageing biology. The outputs focus on compound efficacy, toxicity and mechanism of action, information pharmaceutical and biotech companies use to prioritise candidates before moving to more costly models.
The wider market opportunity is large: the high-throughput screening market is forecast to grow from $27.66 billion in 2026 to $45.90 billion by 2031, reflecting demand for faster, higher-volume early screening tools.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by Northstar Ventures, with participation from Maven, the Finance Durham Fund and new angel investors. Northstar’s contribution included capital from the North East Spinout Inspire Fund, the North East Innovation Fund and the Northstar EIS Growth Fund. Maven invested through its managed regional funds, including NPIF II and the Finance Durham Fund.
The financing also gives Magnitude access to a £217,000 Innovate UK Investor Partnership grant, blending public grant support with private investment to de-risk commercial development.
In the announcement, Will Cousins, Investor at Northstar Ventures, said:
The North East continues to generate world-class innovations with the potential to compete on the global stage. Supporting ambitious companies with the capital they need to grow is essential if we are to unlock that potential. Having worked closely with Magnitude Biosciences throughout its journey, we have seen first-hand the strength of the team, the technology and the opportunity ahead. We are proud to continue backing a business that is helping to shape the future of drug discovery.
In the announcement, Sarah Newbould, Investor at British Business Bank, said:
We're continuing to back the businesses that are driving innovation across the UK economy, with this new funding round helping to bring Magnitude Biosciences' new technology to market. With NPIF II providing initial investment in May last year, we're able to support businesses throughout their journey, fuelling the Government's Industrial Strategy and ensuring the North East's life sciences sector continues to thrive.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Fozia Saleem, CEO at Magnitude Biosciences, said:
Our ambition is to become the first company to provide a platform to screen millions of compounds in a whole organism. This investment in VivoScan™ gives us the opportunity to turn that ambition into reality and fundamentally change the scale and speed at which drug discovery can be done. We are building a platform that can move beyond simply screening more compounds. VivoScan™ generates rich, whole organism biological data that can help researchers understand how potential therapies affect health, ageing and disease. By making data generation faster and more cost effective, we will be able to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies identify better drug candidates earlier and ultimately accelerate the development of new treatments.
Saleem’s comments frame the funding as a step toward increasing throughput and data depth rather than only expanding capacity.
The bigger picture
The raise reflects two linked trends in the UK lifesciences ecosystem: investor appetite for alternatives to traditional animal testing and ongoing regional efforts to channel capital into early-stage life-science ventures. Northstar’s involvement, together with NPIF-backed vehicles and Innovate UK support, is a familiar funding mix that aims to bridge proof-of-concept work and global commercialisation.
The deal also signals continued momentum in the North East, where university spinouts and regional funds are increasingly cooperating to commercialise academic research. For UK biotech investors, approaches that can produce richer, earlier-stage biological data are likely to remain attractive as companies and regulators push for more predictive, scalable discovery tools.
They've invested in Magnitude Biosciences
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