Entrepreneur
University of Leeds IVF spinout raises £3.5m
University of Leeds IVF spinout IVFmicro has raised £3.5m in pre-seed funding.
The investment is led by Northern Gritstone, with support from Innovate UK Investor Partnerships Programme, and will be used by IVFmicro for its next verification and validation phase, leading to trials on human embryos in fertility clinics.
Helen Picton is scientific director and co-founder of IVFmicro.
She said: “My career has focused on understanding the reproductive biology of eggs and embryos, how they develop and, crucially, why things sometimes go wrong.
“At IVFmicro, we are harnessing years of research into reproductive biology to create a practical, accessible solution that can improve outcomes for patients undergoing fertility treatment.
“Our goal is to make IVF more effective, more predictable, and ultimately more hopeful for those striving to start a family.”
Globally, 1 in 6 couples will face fertility issues, yet IVF success rates are suboptimal, with only 25-30 per cent succeeding in women under 35 years of age.
This is due in part to limitations of the embryo culture process, which typically involves repetitive handling, subjective selection of the best embryo, and the expense of highly skilled operators.
IVF is an expensive process, costing on average £5,000 for a patient in the UK for one cycle, accompanied by long NHS waiting lists that have selective criteria.
IVFmicro provides the first microfluidic device (a device for safely managing embryo culture and handling with very small amounts of nutrient-rich fluid) that can be used in any IVF treatment cycle.
This precision-engineered solution improves both the number of viable embryos available for transfer and the likelihood that an embryo will implant and result in a pregnancy.
IVFmicro provides a 10-15 per cent improvement in embryo quality and quantity, a significant leap that increases the potential to fall pregnant.
IVFmicro was founded in 2018 by Virginia Pensabene, Ph.D, and Helen Picton, Bsc, Ph.D., both professors at the University of Leeds.
Pensabene has published scientific advancements in microfluidics and brings her technical and scientific expertise to the product design.
Picton is a non-clinical expert in female reproductive biology and embryology, and has generated over £8m in research grant income.
IVFmicro recently took part in the NG Studios life sciences programme, which supports pre-seed life science businesses, and is delivered by accelerator KQ Labs, the Francis Crick Institute, and Northern Gritstone.
Virginia Pensabene, CEO and co-founder, IVFmicro, said: “As a biomedical engineer, I began exploring the potential of this technology in 2017, when Helen and I first met at the University of Leeds.
“From the start, our goal was to translate our research into a real solution for patients.
“Thanks to the combination of grant funding and Northern Gritstone’s support — both through investment and its innovation programmes — we have been able to grow our team in Leeds and take a major step toward bringing this precision-engineered IVF solution to market.”
Entrepreneur
Last chance to save on Women’s Health Week and Women’s Sport Summit: Early Bird pricing ends 11 September
Early bird pricing for W Group’s two flagship October summits – Women’s Health Week Europe 2026 and Women’s Sport Summit Europe 2026 – closes on 11 September.
Both events take place at Emirates Stadium, London, bringing together founders, investors, corporates, and industry leaders shaping the future of women’s health and sport.
Women’s Health Week Europe 2026
7-8 October | Emirates Stadium, London
This year’s edition will be Women’s Health Week Europe biggest one yet: with 700+ attendees, 80+ speakers, and 20+ sponsors, it will also feature two stages – a Global Stage covering market trends and policy, and a Scale Stage focused on company-level growth and commercialisation. WHW takes place across two days of content, business matchmaking, and dealmaking.
Agenda highlights include:
- Where Capital Flows: Funding Trends in Women’s Health – with Merete Clausen (EIF), Ekaterina Gianelli (Calm/Storm), Henriette Hessen (Verdane), Jemma Day (British Business Bank), Ravit Warsha Dor (Telus Global Ventures), Tim Davis (LSEG)
- Six Feet Under-funded: Surviving the Valley of Death in Women’s Health – with Patric Stenberg (Gesynta Pharma), Valentina Milanova (Daye), Amber Vodegel (28x)
- The Women’s Health Label – Gift or Curse? · Live Debate – with Juan Camilo Arjona Ferreira (organon), Marissa Fayer (DeepLook Medical), Christian Lautner (Heal Capital), Annie Theriault (CBIV), Ida Tin (Clue)
- Passport to Scale: Taking Your Women’s Health Business Global – with Vanessa Carpenter (Femtech Across Borders), Annie Theriault (CBIV), Victorine Lançon (Daya Ventures), Dr Mridula Pore (Peppy)
Early bird pricing (ends 11 September):
| Ticket type | Early bird | Standard |
| Startups, Scaleups, Investors, Non-Profits, Government | £599 + VAT | £699 + VAT |
| Corporates, Payors & Providers | £1,799 + VAT | £1,999 + VAT |
| Service Providers & Consultants | £3,299 + VAT | £3,499 + VAT |
Register for Women’s Health Week Europe | See the full agenda for WHW
Women’s Sport Summit Europe 2026
6 October | Emirates Stadium, London
The first-ever Women’s Sport Summit expands W Group’s expertise in connecting key decision-makers to the sports industry.
WSS brings together rights holders, brands, investors, athletes, and media to accelerate commercial growth across the sector.
Agenda highlights include:
- From capital to crowd: the women’s sport cycle at scale – with Omar Shaikh (Arsenal FC), Nicole McWilliams (Google), Kerstin Lutz (Mercury13), Jo Currie (BBC Sport)
- Women’s sport through the investor lens: what gets funded – and why – Hugo Sever (APEX Capital)
- Rethinking ROI: what are we measuring that doesn’t actually matter? – Fi Watherston (Metro Bank), Silvia Keiser (Billie Jean King Cup), Gabriel Akin-Odujobi (Crux Football), Tammy Parlour (WST)
- Beyond the 90 minutes: matchday as a commercial product, not just a fixture – Maggie Murphy (Aston Villa Women FC), Sam Feasey (Diageo/Guinness), Molly Miller (OneFootball), Megan Feringa (The Athletic/The New York Times)
Early bird pricing (ends 11 September):
| Ticket type | Early bird | Standard |
| General Pass | £299 + VAT | £399 + VAT |
| Service Providers & Consultants | £1,799 + VAT | £1,999 + VAT |
Register for Women’s Sport Summit Europe | See the full agenda for WSS
Attending both events?
For group tickets or to attend both summits this October, contact Callum, W Group’s Client Success Lead, at [email protected].
KOVE Medical has raised €1.7 million to support first-in-human studies of an implantable device designed to reduce preterm birth risk after foetal surgery.
The University of Zurich spin-off is developing a device designed to close defects left by surgical instruments following fetoscopy, a minimally invasive procedure performed inside the womb.
Fetoscopies can treat life-threatening conditions before birth but require surgical instruments to pass through the uterine wall and amniotic sac.
This can weaken the protective membrane, causing fluid leakage or rupture and often leading to preterm birth.
KOVE Medical said in a statement on LinkedIn: “This is a crucial step forward for our company, and we are incredibly grateful for the strong support and trust from our syndicate of visionary angel investors.”
KOVE Medical says its device closes the defect at the end of the procedure, stabilising the membrane and preventing complications. The aim is to make in-utero interventions safe enough to become a standard method of care.
The company plans to use the seed funding to reach first-in-human studies, a key milestone for a medical device seeking regulatory approval.
The CHF1.6m round was backed by a syndicate of angel investors.
The Women’s Health Innovation Summit (WHIS), the event uniting the global women’s health ecosystem, has just announced 18 new speakers joining the agenda for its 2026 summit, taking place October 13–15 at Encore Boston Harbor.
The latest additions bring further depth across pharma, clinical research, health systems, venture, and policy, reinforcing WHIS’s role as the only platform where the full women’s health ecosystem convenes under one roof.
Newly confirmed speakers include:
- Kelle Moley, MD – VP, Women’s Health Early Phase Clinical Development, Cardiometabolic Research, Eli Lilly & Company
- Justine Levin-Allerhand – Executive Partner, Chief Corporate Development Officer & COO, Flagship Labs, Flagship Pioneering
- Sebnem Yildirimoglu, MD, PMP – Executive Director, Women’s Health Strategy, Premier Research
- Terri Stewart – Head of Global Healthcare & Government Affairs, EMD Serono
- Dr. Morag Grassie – Executive Director, Blavatnik Fund for Innovation, Yale
- Sandra Butler – Director, Design Impact, Mass General Brigham
- Zhenya Lindgardt – Chief Executive Officer, Sera Prognostics
- Sadie Morahan – Head of US Revenue, Withings Health Solutions
- Angela Drew, PhD – Vice President, Regulatory Strategy, Premier Research
- Dr. Stephanie Lahr – CMIO, Aqurio
- Michelle Andrews – Contributing Writer, KFF Health News
- Charlotte Williams – CEO, My Bump Hub
- Clint Dart, MS – Director, NIH Women’s Health Data Coordinating Center, Premier Research
- Cass Sanford – US Venture Advisor, FemTech Lab
- Megan Mukuria – Founder & CEO, ZanaAfrica
- Tiffany Inglis, MD, FACOG – Chief Medical Officer, Sera Prognostics
- Angelean Hendrix, PhD – Vice President, Pharmacometrics and MIDD, Premier Research
- Amanda Ducach – CEO & Co-founder, EmaEQ
“WHIS is where the women’s health industry comes together to take action,” said Poppy Howard-Wall, Event Director at WHIS.
“This latest wave of speakers reflects exactly the kind of cross-sector expertise our attendees expect – from global pharma and clinical research leadership to venture, health systems, and grassroots innovation.
“It’s this breadth that makes WHIS the room where things actually move forward.”
Bringing the Full Ecosystem Together
These additions join a growing 2026 agenda spanning four content tracks that reflect the full lifecycle of healthcare innovation, from early-stage research and development through to patient delivery, system transformation, and commercial scale.
Attendees can expect over 1,000 senior decision-makers, 120+ expert speakers, four dedicated stages, and more than 10 hours of curated 1:1 meetings.
Full speaker and agenda details are available at whisusa.com/speakers-2026.
About WHIS
The Women’s Health Innovation Summit is the only platform uniting the full women’s health ecosystem – providers, payers, employers, pharma leaders, investors, and innovators -to increase deal flow, expand reimbursement, improve access, and deliver better outcomes for women at every stage of life.
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