Ron Long and Chris Lyddon, the chairman and director of former NVM portfolio company DxS, which was sold for £82 million last year, have joined with the firm to provide an initial £3 million for the fund.

Says Long, ‘The UK has a world class university system which delivers a strong flow of innovation. There is however a constant struggle to obtain the financial resources needed to industrialise and commercial new technology.’

RCC Lifesciences will invest in UK companies with new technology in the life sciences or medical diagnostics markets, which need further funding and support to take their products to commercialisation.

With offices in Newcastle and Reading, NVM manages £186 million and invests in UK-based unquoted companies.