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GEIF VENTURES MATCHES ANGELS WITH A £100K INVESTMENT IN QUOTIENT DIAGNOSTICS LTD GEIF Ventures, a £2.5m fund set up in April 2003 to co-invest with business angels announced today that it matched Great Eastern Investment Forum (GEIF) business angels with a £100,000 investment in Quotient Diagnostics ("Quotient"), creators and manufacturers of diagnostic tools for assisting the treatment of diabetes. Quotient, which was incorporated in December 2002, is developing an instrument to provide low-cost, immediate and accurate measurement of glycated haemoglobin in blood samples. The diagnosis, treatment and management of diabetes and associated diseases can be significantly improved by using the information provided from the measurement of glycated haemoglobin levels in blood samples. Current techniques require the separation of haemoglobin into glycated and non- glycated fractions before taking measurements. This is a complex procedure that can easily lead to errors. Quotient's method uses the fluorescent properties of a patented reagent to pinpoint the glycated fraction without the need for a separation method. Diabetes is becoming a worldwide epidemic, now known to affect around 150 million people, and rising inexorably. It is strongly associated with obesity and increasingly affects children and adolescents. Over half the diabetics in the world are believed to be undiagnosed. David Chatterton, Chief Executive of Quotient commented today: "We are delighted to have been given this level of support by GEIF angels and GEIF Ventures and believe that this level of funding will allow us the opportunity to continue the successful development of our product". GEIF Ventures will be investing in Quotient alongside five GEIF business angels and two other financial institutions, The Capital Fund, the Regional Venture Capital Fund for London, which is managed by London Fund Managers, and NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), the organisation that champions UK creativity and innovation. Several private individuals will also be investing. Nigel Brown, Chairman of NW Brown Group of which the GEIF Ventures Fund and Great Eastern Investment Forum are part says: "I am pleased to see the Fund is well under way in making new investments and delighted GEIFV is taking part in this exciting new phase in the growth of Quotient, which is a company, we believe, with high growth potential. We were pleased to see several investment institutions join forces with business angels in this deal as I am convinced syndication and match funding is the way forward for early-stage investment groups. The Great Eastern Investment Forum and the GEIF Ventures Fund is helping to pioneer that concept." For more information on GEIF Ventures, please contact Max Bautin at GEIF Ventures on 01223 357131.
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