A £2.3 MILLION early-stage funding boost has been awarded to a York start-up to assist in the development of a new all-in-one pregnancy and fertility testing device.

Concepta, based in St Martin's Lane, was founded by a group of scientists from pharmaceutical firm Unipath, who were responsible for creating digital fertility and pregnancy tests such as Clearblue, as well as other women's health diagnostics.

The business has been awarded the funding from Finance Yorkshire’s Seedcorn Fund, Diagnostic Capital and Angel CoFund.

Concepta will now develop and market a diagnostic device that can accurately and simultaneously test for fertility and pregnancy, as well as monitor early stage pregnancy health.

The firm has also just announced several new appointments with former chief executive of Axis-Shield Dr Ian Gilham joining as chairman, and lead equity investor David Evans joining as a board director.

Funding was attracted through a consortium of clients at Diagnostic Capital, led by Mr Evans, with investment from the Angel CoFund and significant follow-on investment from Finance Yorkshire, which has supported the management team from inception.

Finance Yorkshire Investment director Mark Wyatt said: "We have worked closely with the Concepta team for some time, and have been impressed with their combined expertise and knowledge of this sector.

"This is a significant early stage fundraising, and I look forward to continuing to work with the company as it brings its exciting products to market."

Alex Clarkson, chief executive of Diagnostic Capital, said: “We are very pleased to have helped Concepta secure this £2.3 million equity investment which can now combine with grants being applied for, to provide enough capital to see the plan through to full commercialisation.”

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2 millio to help a range of small and medium sized businesses meet their funding requirements for growth and development.

To date Finance Yorkshire has made 601 investments totalling more than £75 million.

The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30 million investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, £15 million from UK Government and £45 million match funding from the European Investment Bank.