Longwall Ventures

VC Firm·Oxford, UK·~£145M across three ECFs

Founded in 2011 in Oxford, Longwall Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early stage deep tech businesses harnessing the UK's expertise in science research and development. Co-founded by David Denny, Matthew Frohn, and Michael Penington, the firm manages three Enterprise Capital Funds backed by the British Business Bank. Its portfolio spans scientific instrumentation, cancer diagnostics, digital health, satellite robotics, IoT security, and organ perfusion. Notable portfolio companies include OrganOx and Helio Display Materials. The firm has made 147 investments to date.

Focus Areas

HealthcareScienceEngineeringDeep TechDigital Health

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Portfolio

1 company in our directory

OSS

Space Tech·Growth

Oxford Space Systems was founded in 2013 by a team of serial entrepreneurs and engineers including Matthew John, Juan Reveles, Mike Lawton, Matthew Dreaper, and Vincent Fraux, with Sean Sutcliffe joining as CEO in 2019. Based in Harwell, the company develops deployable antenna systems for satellite missions using its flagship Wrapped Rib technology, which combines traditional space engineering with expertise from Formula One and textiles to enable parabolic reflectors to stow compactly for lightweight spacecraft. OSS has partnered with Surrey Satellite Technology on synthetic aperture radar payloads for the UK Space Agency and Space Norway, and was selected as a key supplier for the UK Ministry of Defence Oberon earth observation mission led by Airbus Defence and Space. The company has grown to over 100 employees and raised $31M from investors including Longwall Ventures, IQ Capital, Foresight Group, and NSSIF.