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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Technology
Tom Keighley

Leeds university spinout Slingshot Simulations secures £3m investment

Data start-up Slingshot Simulations has closed a £3m Series A funding round with the backing of Northern Gritstone, Mercia and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

The firm, which describes itself as a "decision intelligence" specialist, was founded in 2019 by Dr David McKee and is based at Leeds University's Nexus office and co-working space. It provides modelling, simulation and data science services to businesses.

The investment will used to develop its Compass: Engine SaaS platform for small and medium-sized businesses. The platform helps firms make sense of large volumes of complex, disconnected data and make visualisations to help decision making. Slingshot hopes it will support firms' drive for sustainability.

Read more: WANdisco secures £7.2m contract with unnamed industrial and consumer goods client

Dr David McKee, founder and CEO of Slingshot Simulations, said: "We're really excited to be backed by the Northern Gritstone team and continue to have the support of Mercia and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. With this new funding we can realise our vision more quickly – enabling anyone, anywhere to access the power of digital twins and decision intelligence and make a quantifiable difference to some of the biggest challenges we face today. 2023 will be an exciting year as we accelerate the release of cutting-edge capabilities on this journey."

Northern Gritstone chief executive Duncan Johnson said: "As the digital twin market continues to expand, Slingshot Simulations’ ambition to produce this technology for a wider range of businesses can accelerate the sector’s development. The company’s ground-breaking approach is representative of the thriving innovation in the north of England that Northern Gritstone was created to support.

"Slingshot Simulations, which marks our first Leeds-based investment, is an excellent example of Northern Gritstone’s investment approach and we look forward to supporting its continued growth journey."

Paul Scully, Digital Economy Minister, said: "Thanks to the resilience of innovative start-ups like Slingshot Simulations, the UK ended last year as one of the world's leaders in tech. It's great to see more investment flowing into a firm that can help cities cut air pollution and reduce congestion. We're committed to making sure our tech sector continues to thrive and add jobs and growth to the economy.”

Slingshot Simulations was advised by Squire Patton Biggs, via a team led by corporate partner Andrea Cropley, associate Joshua Lodge and intellectual property and technology partner Emma Ball. Northern Gritstone and Mercia were advised by CMS via partner Gareth Saynor and senior associate Caroline Walker.

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