Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield universities are launching Northern Gritstone as an investment company to back spin-out ventures 25 April 2021 • 12:29pm Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield universities will this week launch a new spin-out investment company to provide a £500m boost to Britain's levelling-up ambitions. Named Northern Gritstone, the investment company will be modelled on Oxford University's successful spin-out fund, Oxford Sciences Innovation, which helped propel biotech companies Immunocore and Oxford Nanopore from research concepts to valuations of more than $1bn (£720m). It is expected to become one of the largest investors in spin-out ventures across the UK, helping bring capital to early stage ventures outside of the so-called "golden triangle" of Oxford, Cambridge and London.