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Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more

o2h Ventures backed Kuano wins Innovate UK funding for designing the next generation of cancer drugs
Jan 18 2023

Cambridge UK: A grant from Innovate UK was awarded to Kuano, an o2h Ventures portfolio company for designing the next generation of cancer drugs.  Kuano is a discovery platform that combines target quantum mapping and AI led chemistry to enable faster development of drug candidates.

Innovate UK is a government body that provides financial support to researchers, businesses, and innovators for their ground-breaking or radical products, services, discoveries, etc. through various competitions and challenges. 

Kuano won funding from the highly competitive Biomedical Catalyst 2022 Round 1: industry-led R&D for their project worth half a million pounds towards the streamlined and targeted design of NOTUM inhibitors as colorectal cancer drugs. After an initial investment from o2h Ventures in March 2021; we are pleased that Kuano has been able to win further non-dilutive grant funding to support the development of its assets. o2h Ventures has recently followed-on its investment alongside existing investors Meltwind as well as new investor Ascension.   

Vid Stojevic, CEO of Kuano: “The goal of Kuano is to develop a revolutionary quantum-led approach to drug discovery. I am very proud of the progress Kuano has made so far to validate our vision. It is exciting to have received InnovateUK support which will enable us to further develop our approach specifically for the colorectal cancer therapeutic area, paving the way to enable real world impact for colorectal cancer sufferers in the years to come.”

Sunil Shah, CEO of o2h Ventures: “Kuano is building an exciting Techbio company that can speed up the discovery pathway for new drug candidates. Kuano has built a solid team of both computational and scientists to support this endeavor, and we are very happy that Innovate UK recognised this and are supporting the company with a substantial award.”

About Kuano

The discovery platform of Kunao uniquely combines target quantum mapping and AI led chemistry to enable faster development of better drug candidates. Their unique approach tackles common challenges in both AI driven drug design and target driven drug discovery. 

About o2h Ventures

The o2h Ventures ‘Human Health’ SEIS and Knowledge Intensive (KI) funds make tax-efficient investments in Pre-Seed and Seed stage companies that address human disease. The main focus of the investments is on the development of novel therapeutic treatments with a clear path to the clinic.

The o2h team are leaders in the biotech community and have been actively involved as investors, holding various board/industry positions as well as being engaged in grassroots scientific activity for over 20 years. o2h Ventures operates from their proprietary 2.7-acre Mill SciTech Park where they are developing a unique model for incubating small life science companies.  

For more information about our portfolio or to invest in the fund, please visit www.o2hventures.com. 

Media Contact:

Juhi Shah

Marketing Manager

o2h Ventures

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Please refer to the relevant fund’s full risk warnings contained in their Information Memorandums.
Your capital is at risk. Investing in early stage businesses involves risks, including illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution, and it should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. o2h Ventures’ funds are targeted exclusively at sophisticated or high net worth investors who understand these risks and make their own investment decisions. Tax relief depends on an individual’s circumstances and may change in the future. In addition, the availability of tax relief depends on the company invested in maintaining its qualifying status. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. You should not rely on any past performance as a guarantee of future investment performance.
o2h ventures Limited is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 812245). Capital at risk, only suitable for high net worth and sophisticated investors
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Risk Information

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk

What are the key risks?

1 – You could lose all the money you invest

• If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invest. Most start-up businesses fail.

2 – You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong

• Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here. (https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/investment-protection-checker)

• Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here. (https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers)

3 – You won’t get your money back quickly

• Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.

• The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.

• If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.

4 – Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

• Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.

• A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments (https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest)

5 – The value of your investment can be reduced

• The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.

• These new shares could have addition rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here (https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart)