Spark backs Zilico with £750,000

The investment was made through The North West Fund for Biomedical, a £25m vehicle launched in February 2011. The vehicle is a sub-fund of the £185m evergreen North West Fund financed by the European Investment Bank and the European Regional Development Fund.

Zilico will use the fresh capital to complete the manufacture of commercial devices and to establish its expansion route into international markets. Spark sourced the deal through its own network.

Company
Founded in 2006 as a spinout of the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Zilico has developed technology to speed up and improve the cervical cancer diagnosis process.

The new system provides real time results for women undergoing tests using electrical impedance spectroscopy technology, which measures the resistivity of cells. The company operates two applications, one of which completed a trial of 400 women across three hospitals in the UK and Ireland in 2011. The second application is under development.

People
Penny Attridge is a senior investment director at Spark Ventures.

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