Moray Wright (left) and Duncan Johnson (right)
Northern Gritstone, the investment firm backed by the universities of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, and Sheffield, today partnered with fund manager Parkwalk Advisors to launch a new Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) fund.
Parkwalk Advisors will manage the Northern Universities Venture Fund, the size of which has not been revealed. The fund will focus on technologies including quantum computing, AI, engineering biology, semiconductors, healthtech and clean technology.
“This collaboration brings together two of the UK’s leading forces in university commercialisation. Parkwalk’s expertise in venture capital and deep tech, combined with Northern Gritstone’s unrivalled university partnerships, means we can offer investors access to an exceptional and underexploited pipeline of innovation.”
– Moray Wright, CEO of Parkwalk Advisors
EIS is a UK government-backed scheme that gives individual investors a tax break. Parkwalk Advisors manages a series of EIS funds in collaboration with the universities of Bristol, Cambridge, and Oxford, as well as Imperial College London.
It also manages the Knowledge Intensive EIS Funds – a specific category under EIS for deeptech startups – and the evergreen Opportunities EIS Fund. In total, Parkwalk has more than £500 million1 in assets under management and has invested in over 200 companies.
The partnership with Northern Gritstone marks the first time that Parkwalk Advisors has joined forces with a university venture fund and will give high-net-worth individuals access to a pipeline emerging from the so-called Northern Arc.
“I am convinced that the UK’s first trillion-dollar business will emerge from investing into UK university science and technology. The launch of Parkwalk’s Northern Universities Venture Fund is a way to bring untapped innovation from the North of England to a broader investor base.”
– Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone
Northern Gritstone was launched in May 2022 and has backed 37 companies to date, across various industries, including materials, AI, healthtech, and semiconductor design and manufacturing. It also runs an accelerator programme, NG Studios, in partnership with Deeptech Labs. You can hear more about NG Studios on our podcast.
The firm secured an additional £50 million in April 2025, bringing its total capital to £362 million2. In May, it added the University of Liverpool to its partners.