Life science investment manager Syncona Investment Management (SIML) has signed for space at Pioneer Group and Oxford Properties’ Victoria House life sciences hub in Bloomsbury, London.
SIML is the investment manager for Syncona, a FTSE 250 life sciences investor that has more than £1bn in net assets. Syncona also intends to bring its accelerator, Slingshot Therapeutics, to Victoria House.
Miranda Knaggs, corporate development director at Pioneer, said: “Welcoming SIML to Victoria House is a transformative moment for our life sciences community. SIML’s unique model of building companies from the ground up perfectly complements our ecosystem. By positioning its team and the Slingshot Accelerator within touching distance of London’s medical and academic powerhouses, we are creating a frictionless environment where innovators can seamlessly access the long-term capital required to scale breakthrough science from bench to bedside.”
Jay Drexler, Oxford Properties’ head of asset management, office, retail and life science Europe, added: “SIML is a leading venture capital fund manager that perfectly complements the Victoria House ecosystem by increasing innovators’ access to funding so that they can get their ideas to market. Adding SIML to our tenant roster builds on the outstanding growth and success Victoria House has already seen this year so far and further reinforces its central role in supporting the growth and continued development of London’s life science ecosystem.”
Fiona Fernandez, head of operations at SIML, said: “We are pleased to be joining the life sciences community at Victoria House. Its collaborative spaces and the events programme it hosts will give us valuable exposure to investors, founders and innovators. We are also pleased to bring Slingshot, our early stage accelerator, to Victoria House, putting us among early stage companies and founders, with laboratory space readily accessible in central London, a natural fit for backing science at this stage. We see real potential for the building’s ecosystem to complement our portfolio over time and the team are excited for our next stage.”
