Roslin-based agritech start-up Dyneval secures seven-figure investment

Roslin-based biotechnology start-up Dyneval has secured more than £1.8 million from investors such as Kelvin Capital and Par Equity as it expands its team and gears up to launch its first product at the start of next year.

The company – a provider of portable technology for cattle semen analysis – has raised £1.29m of Series A equity investment through a collaborative funding round that also included Northern Irish entrepreneur Jim Dobson of Cottagequinn Enterprises, Gabriel Investments, and Scottish Enterprise.

As part of the funding round, Dyneval also won a £575,000 grant from InnovateUK under its Transforming Food Production Series A Investor Partnership. It comes after the company earlier this year won the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) Edge award of £100,000 at the Scottish Edge competition, supporting the development of its first product, Dynescan.

The latter is set to launch in January, and aims to improve cattle conception rates, which the biotech firm says have fallen by 20 per cent over the past four decades, costing the average dairy farmer in the UK around £37,000 per year.

From left: Dr Tiffany Wood, co-founder and CEO of Dyneval with CTO Dr Vincent Martinez, who invented the firm’s core technology. Picture: Sandy Young/scottishphotographer.com.

Dynescan is billed as a portable instrument that provides reliable measurements of livestock semen quality, “ensuring only the right samples are used for reproduction” – and the firm cites independent analysis suggesting that if conception rates were elevated by 27 per cent, the carbon footprint of farming could be reduced by up to a fifth.

The company is now recruiting seven staff over the next few months. Chief executive Tiffany Wood said: “The Series A funding will be critical to launching our product and growing our team – it is an incredibly exciting time for our business.

"Dyneval’s technology is automated and easy to use so that anyone can check semen quality, from the time it leaves a genetics company, during storage on farm, and prior to insemination by a technician. Through regular checks, our tool will improve the quality, handling and storage procedures for semen across the livestock production industry.”

Exciting

Mr Dobson said: “Dyneval met our criteria of being an early-stage company, looking for smart money with a focus on a solution that is a clear win for agri-production, not only in the UK, but globally. We look forward to an exciting journey with a great team in Dyneval as they aim to address key challenges in the agri-food supply chain.”

Liz Fletcher, director of business engagement and operations at IBioIC, said: “We are proud to have supported Dyneval in its journey so far and are pleased to see the company attract substantial funding from a group of venerable investors.

"The company is delivering world-leading innovation that could make a significant difference to the agri-food supply chain, and the drive towards more sustainable farming practices. Dyneval’s technology has global potential, making it a great example of the type of early-stage company we need to support and nurture in Scotland.”

Glasgow-based IBioIC was established in 2014 to fulfil the aims of the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology to grow the industrial biotechnology sector in Scotland to more than £900 million in turnover.

The name Dyneval is an abbreviation of Dynamic Evaluation, saying this refers to its innovative technology for measuring motion, developed by a team of physicists with more than 30 years’ experience studying complex fluids at the University of Edinburgh.

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