Northern Gritstone, the investment business focused on science and technology-enabled businesses in the North of England, announced the appointment of Jess McCreadie as investment director.

McCreadie joins from Octopus Ventures where she worked as Principal specialising in Health Tech and B2B SaaS. Prior to Octopus, she was investment director at L&G, investing in Health Tech, Clean Tech and Infrastructure scale Clean Energy.  

She will be based primarily at Northern Gritstone’s office in Manchester, having relocated from London for her new role.

Her remit will include Health Tech and Clean Tech, areas in which Northern Gritstone specialises, demonstrated through its investments in Imperagen and C-Capture.

Launched in July 2021 and chaired by former Goldman Sachs executive Jim O’Neill, Northern Gritstone’s investment philosophy is “profit with purpose” combining strong returns for investors with wider positive, societal and economic impact.

In October 2023, the company announced the final close of its initial fundraise at £312 million and has already made 17 investments in some of the UK’s most exciting future science and technology-enabled businesses in the North of England.

Northern Gritstone CEO Duncan Johnson said: “I’m delighted to welcome Jess to the team. Her Health Tech and Clean Tech investment experience and understanding of the innovation ecosystem will be invaluable to Northern Gritstone as we continue our investment activities in these exciting areas.”

McCreadie said: “Northern Gritstone has quickly built a reputation as a leading investor and innovation ecosystem pioneer.

“The past decades in venture capital demonstrate that the most successful and ambitious companies are borne out of highly collaborative local economies, thinking globally.

“I see the opportunity we have in the North of England to scale a high-performing technology ecosystem, to be incredibly exciting.” 

Northern Gritstone is dedicated to supporting science and innovation-based businesses located in the North of England, including academic spinouts from its founding university partners. 

The firm was launched in July 2021 by the Universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield.

Its shareholders include some of the major pension funds in the North of England.

Northern Gritstone is dedicated to financing companies in some of the UK’s fastest growing sectors such as advanced materials, energy, health technology and cognitive computation.