Braveheart underpins Kirkstall funding round

8th Jul 2016 15:25

(ShareCast News) - Braveheart Investment Group announced a fresh investment in Kirkstall on Friday - an existing portfolio company - in connection with a follow-on funding round in the investee.The AIM-traded firm said it invested £0.14m in cash to cornerstone an investment round of £0.25m from other existing shareholders.Following completion, Kirkstall will be debt-free and Braveheart will own 28% of its issued share capital and appoint a director to the Kirkstall board.Kirkstall has developed a system of interconnected chambers for cell and tissue culture in laboratories, it reported, with the patented technology being used by researchers and drug development companies to maintain living cells in a nutrient flow.The technology, referred to as "organ on a plate", provides a way to model the behaviour of multiple human organs interconnected by a flow system that mimics the flow of blood in the body.Kirkstall said it believes the technology could drive down the development cost of drugs, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and personal care products by enabling testing to take place on a living tissue, reducing the need to animal testing and improving the chances of success in human clinical trials."This round of investment comes at an important time for Kirkstall, enabling it to expand and develop marketing and technical support to customers across Europe and the US," said Braveheart chief executive Trevor Brown."It represents a further important step in the implementation of Braveheart's new investment strategy."Kirkstall CEO Dr Malcolm Wilkinson said that over the last few years the company has build a loyal and enthusiastic user base, mainly in the UK academic community, and in the last year commercial interest in the system has grown, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry."Our recent product launch into the US market has been successful, and our focus is now on supporting the large commercial organisations who want to use our products on a daily basis."The support being shown by Braveheart and our other shareholders comes at a crucial time in Kirkstall's development," Wilkinson added.Kirkstall had over £0.15m of revenue for the year to 31 January, operating close to breakeven with a loss of just under £8,000.It expects to achieve profitability in the next financial year.