Yorkshire Femtech Lags as UK Investment Jumps 194%

Research from Mills & Reeve finds investment heavily concentrated in London, though a University of Leeds spinout has shown what the region is capable of producing

Investment in UK femtech has grown sharply over the past decade, but very little of it has reached this part of the country. New research from law firm Mills & Reeve found deal numbers rose from 18 in 2015 to 53 in 2025, an increase of 194%, with total funding climbing from £9.4m to more than £100m. The money however, remains concentrated in London, and Yorkshire femtech barely features in the national picture, despite the region producing one of the sector’s more promising recent spinouts.

Why This Matters For Leeds

The warning in the research is specific; companies are relocating south to find funding. For Leeds, with universities producing spinouts and Northern Gritstone investing on the doorstep, that is a loss the city can do something about. IVFmicro shows the model works when regional capital moves early. The opportunity is to make that the norm rather than the exception, because femtech is growing fast globally, and the businesses founded here now will be the ones scaling in a decade.

A Decade of Growth in Femtech Investment

The research charts a market maturing from a low base. Average deal size has more than tripled, from £527,000 in 2015 to £1.9m last year, and the number of venture capital deals has risen 600% as angel investors are joined by institutional money. The largest UK rounds last year included SheMed at more than £37m, Gaia at £12m, emm at £6.8m and Hertility at £5.9m, with most investors UK-based however, Femtech remains small alongside the wider health sector, where deal numbers grew from 69 to 171 over the same period, and most femtech deals are still seed stage.

“More investments are being made into women’s health businesses based in the South, and more businesses are, often as a result, locating themselves there, rather than in the North.”

— Vanessa Walton, Corporate Lawyer, Mills & Reeve

Where Yorkshire Femtech Stands

The research places the region alongside the North East and North West as areas with limited femtech activity, while the South West, South East and East of England are starting to build clusters. Leeds does offer a counter-example. IVFmicro, a University of Leeds spinout developing a microfluidic device to improve IVF success rates, raised £3.5m in pre-seed funding in December, led by Northern Gritstone with support from Innovate UK’s Investor Partnerships Programme. Founded by Dr Virginia Pensabene and Professor Helen Picton, the company has grown its team in the city and is working towards trials in fertility clinics. It is the kind of deal Yorkshire femtech needs more of; university research, regional capital, and a team staying put.