Rainbow Seed Fund Appoints Mike Romanos as Venture Partner

Rainbow Seed Fund,the UK government-backed fund dedicated to kick-starting promising technology companies with a focus on synthetic biology, has appointed Dr Mike Romanos as consultant venture partner.

Mike will be supporting Rainbow in its investment decisions and providing general advice and strategic guidance to portfolio companies to help maximise their potential.

Mike brings an exceptional breadth and depth of experience in drug development, technology and commercialisation gained over many years in the biotech, pharma and academic sectors. Most recently as CEO he built the BBSRC spin-out Crescendo Biologics Ltdinto a leading antibody fragment platform and development company. Previously he held senior global positions in GlaxoSmithKline R&D where he had significant impact on strategy, technology and pipeline across therapeutic areas and modalities.

Rainbow Seed Fund investment manager Oliver Sexton said: “We are delighted to have someone of Mike’s calibre working with us. His outstanding scientific and commercial background will be invaluable in informing our investment decisions and in helping our portfolio companies succeed.”

The Rainbow Seed Fund is managed by Midven, a privately owned commercial fund manager with a successful track record of investing in small and medium-sized enterprises. It has offices in Birmingham, Nottingham and Oxford.

Mike said: “Rainbow Seed Fund has an important role in the UK biotech ecosystem to catalyse the early stages of commercialisation by helping to bring forward new companies into the sector. I very much valued their contribution in building Crescendo Biologics and am now delighted to be able to help Rainbow in their important mission.”