Snapshot from Jul 26, 2026 at 07:00 UTC. For live data and tracking: View Live
Business seed funding

Healome Therapeutics closes £2M seed round

Analysis based on 6 articles · First reported Jul 07, 2026 · Last updated Jul 10, 2026

Sentiment
30
Attention
1
Articles
6
Market Impact
General
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The seed round provides Healome Therapeutics with capital to advance its platform toward clinical trials, potentially capturing a share of the $12 billion ocular surface disease market. The investment signals confidence in the technology from specialized venture capital and rare disease foundations, though the company remains at an early stage with no approved products.

biotechnology pharmaceuticals medical devices

Healome Therapeutics, a University of Birmingham spinout developing a proprietary eye-drop matrix technology for ocular surface diseases, closed an oversubscribed £2 million seed financing round led by Empirical Systems, with participation from DEBRA Research, Cure EB, Oshen Bio, and existing investor SFC Capital. The proceeds will support pre-clinical development, manufacturing scale-up, regulatory engagement with the MHRA and FDA, and progression toward first-in-human studies expected in 2027. The company's platform addresses poor retention of conventional eye drops by forming a clear, lubricating matrix on the eye, enabling sustained drug delivery. Healome holds five patent families and is targeting dry eye disease, ocular surface inflammation, corneal injury, and rare diseases like Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). The funding will also accelerate development for EB-associated ocular complications.

100 Healome Therapeutics closed seed round
60 DEBRA Research invested in seed round Healome Therapeutics
60 Cure EB invested in seed round Healome Therapeutics
50 Oshen Bio invested in seed round Healome Therapeutics
50 SFC Capital invested in seed round Healome Therapeutics
priv
Healome Therapeutics is the company that raised the seed funding; the capital will support its preclinical development and regulatory engagement.
Importance 100.0 Sentiment 60.0
priv
Empirical Systems led the seed round, demonstrating confidence in Healome's platform.
Importance 80.0 Sentiment 40.0
ngo
DEBRA Research invested to support Healome's work on ocular complications of Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Importance 50.0 Sentiment 30.0
ngo
Cure EB invested to support Healome's work on ocular complications of Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Importance 50.0 Sentiment 30.0
priv
Oshen Bio participated as an investor in the seed round.
Importance 40.0 Sentiment 20.0
priv
SFC Capital, an existing investor, participated in the seed round.
Importance 40.0 Sentiment 20.0
per
Richard Williams is CEO and co-founder of Healome Therapeutics.
Importance 30.0 Sentiment 10.0
govactor
Healome plans to engage with the MHRA for regulatory approval.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 0.0
govactor
Healome plans to engage with the FDA for regulatory approval.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 0.0
per
Liam Grover is a co-founder of Healome Therapeutics.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
per
Tony Metcalfe is a co-founder of Healome Therapeutics.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
per
Richard Moakes is a co-founder of Healome Therapeutics.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
per
Johnathan Matlock is Co-Founder and General Partner at Empirical Systems, which led the round.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
per
Christoph Coch is Managing Director at DEBRA Research, which invested in the round.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
cnt
Healome is headquartered in the UK and will engage with the UK regulator MHRA.
Importance 10.0 Sentiment 0.0
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