EMV Capital advised on £2.9m funding for anaesthetic gas recycling tech business SageTech Funds raised include £200,000 investment by NetScientific

NetScientific plc

(“NetScientific”, the “Group” or the “Company”)

EMV Capital advised on £2.9m funding for anaesthetic gas recycling tech business SageTech

Funds raised include £200,000 investment by NetScientific

London, UK – 13 May 2021 – NetScientific plc (AIM: NSCI), the international life sciences and sustainability, technology investment and commercialisation group, announces that its corporate finance and venture capital division EMV Capital Ltd (“EMVC“) advised on a £2.9m pre-series A round for its Advised Portfolio Company, anaesthetic gas recycling technology firm SageTech Medical Equipment Ltd (“SageTech“).

The total raised included £1.6m of investment introduced by EMVC, including a direct investment of £200,000 by NetScientific.

This investment follows a successful first close in November 2020 of £1.28m. Since the first close of this investment round, John Clarkson (Chairman of NetScientific PLC), has joined the board of SageTech, bringing his wealth of commercial expertise to the next stage of the company’s growth.

This pre-series A round is part of a fundraising strategy to complete pilots that are currently underway within UK hospitals and to scale up commercial operations to meet global demand for their technology platform. The funding will also be used to further development towards market authorisation for SageTech’s recycled anaesthetic product.

This transaction increases assets under advisory by EMVC at SageTech by a further £1.6m (excluding the sum invested by NetScientific)  to £2.7m.

SageTech’s flexible, low-capex, modular system allows hospitals to capture waste anaesthetic gas exhaled by patients in absorbent, reusable canisters in the operating theatre. These canisters are emptied, the gas stored in bulk tanks and then collected by SageTech. The firm is currently developing technology which will allow this gas to be recycled, purified and sold commercially.

Waste anaesthetic gases are a substantial and broadly unaddressed cause of air pollution. The anaesthetic gas used by a midsized hospital has the same environmental impact as 1,200 cars each year. The NHS produces 5.4% of all the greenhouse gases in the UK, as more than 95% of all the anaesthetic gas used is disposed of into the atmosphere.

The technology also allows hospitals to use anaesthetic gas in areas that do not have access to fixed Anaesthetic Gas Scavenging Systems, the current solution used by hospitals to collect these gases. These systems are built into a hospital’s infrastructure when it is constructed, meaning that hospitals have not been able to expand operating theatre and intensive care capacity easily during the Covid-19 pandemic. SageTech systems can allow for ‘temporary’ operating theatres to be used.

John Clarkson, Chairman of NetScientific and Director of SageTech comments: “The last year has proven the need for SageTech’s technology. As the UK and many other countries focus on achieving net zero by 2050, the case for anaesthetic gas recycling is only going to get stronger.

“For 95% of all anaesthetic gas to be wasted is something that simply must change. SageTech is well-positioned to be at the forefront of that change.

“This funding round is going to power SageTech’s scaleup and it’s hugely exciting for NetScientific and EMV Capital to be part of that.”

Iain Menneer, SageTech CEO, commented: “The successful close of the pre-Series A round is further endorsement of SageTech Medical’s innovative technology and business proposition. Recent fundraising gives the company the resources to complete development and final clinical testing with UK hospitals before launching our anaesthetic waste capture solution later this year.

“We have also attracted talented and committed individuals to complement the SageTech team. Demand from hospitals has remained high despite the inevitable demands of the pandemic. So in short, we now have the necessary ingredients to embark upon the next exciting chapter of SageTech’s story.”

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About NetScientific

NetScientific plc (AIM: NSCI) is a holding company, that invests in, develops, commercialises and realises shareholder value in life sciences/healthcare, sustainability and technology companies, which offer significant growth potential predominately in the UK and USA, as well as globally.

With the acquisition of EMV Capital in August 2020, the Group doubled its portfolio from 8 to 17 companies, either through direct subsidiary, balance sheet investment or capital under advisory, varying from start-up private companies to publicly listed equities.

NetScientific delivers shareholder returns through a proactive and hands-on management approach to their portfolio companies; identifying, investing in, and helping to build game-changing companies. The Group targets value inflection points and the release of value through partial or full exits from trade sales, public listings, or equity sales. The Company has a strong transatlantic and growing international presence, providing attractive expansion prospects.

NSCI can deploy a capital-light investment structure; utilising the power of the PLC Brand, and the NetScientific balance sheet to anchor future investments and achieve a multiplier effect by attracting 3rd party investment for the portfolio companies.

NetScientific is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and was admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange, in 2013 (website: www.netscientific.net).

About SageTech

SageTech Medical Equipment Ltd specialises in the development and commercialisation of patented technology. Its technology is applicable to several industries but is being applied initially in  healthcare as an exemplar to reduce the environmental and financial costs associated with anaesthesia. The technology is internationally scalable and provides significant flexibility and scalable advantages to healthcare. SageTech’s solution offers large financial savings on hospital infrastructure installations and maintenance costs in time eliminating the need for expensive air extraction systems to take the exhaled drugs from the operating theatres to the chimney.

SageTech Medical has attracted interest and enquiries from clinicians in the UK, Europe, America, Australia  and Scandinavia, all driven to reduce environmental damage, increase efficiency and reduce costs.