Supporting innovation through to unicorn status with Oxford Nanopore .

Oxford Nanopore has developed the world’s first and only nanopore DNA sequencing platform, which is uniquely scalable from pocket-sized formats through to ultra-high throughput devices, offering real-time data analysis for rapid, dynamic insights.

The Company aims to enable the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere and is a prime example of how IP Group has backed and supported innovation from an early stage, right through to unicorn status.

Professor David Deamer reportedly came up with the idea for nanopore sequencing back in 1989 while driving down California’s Interstate 5 and pulled over to write it down while it was still fresh in his mind. In 2001, Professor Bayley's lab in Oxford described a working nanopore sensor in the journal Nature Nanotechnology and in 2005, Oxford Nanopore was born – originally founded as Oxford Nanolabs by Dr Gordon Sanghera, Dr Spike Willcocks and Professor Hagan Bayley, with seed funding from IP Group.

As well as providing the original seed funding to Oxford Nanopore in 2005, IP Group backed numerous follow-on funding rounds over the next 15 years. We also played a leading role in introducing many new shareholders, including RPMI Railpen. In addition, IP Group has helped recruit a number of senior hires, including members of both the current executive and non-executive team, over the years.

Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing technology is now being used in more than 100 countries by researchers to explore areas of biological research including human genetics, cancer, infectious pathogens, plant and animal genomics and environmental science.

The technology made headlines around the world in 2020 for its work in the fight against the pandemic, having been used for rapid, distributed sequencing of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in both local and national public health systems in more than 85 countries.

Standout performers such as Oxford Nanopore demonstrate the quality of UK technology and innovation and its work is aligned with a number of the Sustainable Development Goals including SDG 3 and SDG 3 target – 3.3 Fight Communicable Diseases.