Bristol's Siloton wins £8.4m Innovate UK contract for eye scanner
The medtech company will use the money to speed up development of a handheld retinal imaging device. The award is a contract from Innovate UK, not equity.
Siloton, a medtech company based in Bristol, has been awarded a contract worth £8.4m to develop a handheld eye imaging system.
The funder is Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation. The award was made as a contract rather than an equity investment.
The figure is also given as €9.98m. The two numbers describe the same award.
Siloton works on miniaturised optical technology for medical imaging. Its system is intended to make detecting and monitoring retinal diseases easier for patients to reach.
Retinal scanning today is largely done on fixed equipment in clinics. A handheld device moves that examination to wherever the patient is.
The money is described as accelerating development of the system. A delivery timetable has not been published.
For founders, the shape of the deal matters as much as the size. Public contracts of this kind pay for work to be done and leave the cap table alone.
That makes a government buyer a different proposition from a venture investor. The trade is milestones and deliverables instead of ownership.
Innovate UK has not published the competition details behind this particular award alongside the announcement.