o2h Discovery today announced that Mercia Ventures has joined its Platinum Partner Programme, enabling eligible life science companies within the Mercia Ventures portfolio to access the o2h Kickstarter Award and integrated drug discovery support designed to accelerate early-stage therapeutic development.

Through the Platinum Partner Programme, eligible companies within the Mercia Ventures portfolio will gain access to the o2h Kickstarter Award and integrated drug discovery support, including medicinal chemistry, peptide discovery, biology, ADME and project management expertise designed to accelerate early-stage therapeutic development.

Backed by o2h Discovery’s integrated drug discovery platform and team of more than 800 scientists, the o2h Kickstarter Award has supported more than 40 biotechnology startups across the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and Israel, helping founders generate critical scientific data, achieve key technical milestones and strengthen future fundraising efforts.

Amrit Singh Sami, Mercia Ventures investor, commented:

Our role is to back exceptional founders and help them overcome the challenges of building breakthrough companies. For many biotech businesses, that means providing access not only to capital but also to the specialist scientific expertise needed to generate robust data and validate their science. By joining the o2h Discovery Platinum Partner Programme, we’re strengthening the support available to our life sciences portfolio and giving founders access to another valuable resource as they move from promising science towards commercial success.

Sunil Shah, Co-founder of o2h Discovery, commented:

We launched the o2h Kickstarter Award to help early-stage biotech companies access the scientific expertise and discovery capabilities needed to reach their next milestone. The Platinum Partner Programme allows us to extend that support even further by working alongside leading investors and innovation partners. We are delighted to welcome Mercia Ventures and look forward to helping even more founders accelerate their science.

Together, Mercia Ventures and o2h Discovery aim to help promising biotech companies move more efficiently from early scientific discovery towards investment readiness, value creation and ultimately new therapies for patients.

About Mercia Ventures

Mercia Ventures is a UK-based venture capital firm investing in high-growth businesses across Life Sciences, Deeptech, Software, and Consumer sectors. The firm provides funding of up to £10 million alongside active support to help founders scale, commercialise innovation, and build category-leading companies. It partners with ambitious entrepreneurs from early-stage through growth, focusing on businesses with strong technology differentiation and long-term market potential.

For more information, visit: http://merciaventures.co.uk

About o2h Discovery

Founded in 2005, o2h Discovery operates an integrated drug discovery platform across Cambridge, UK and Ahmedabad, India. With expertise spanning medicinal chemistry, biology, DMPK, peptide discovery, scale-up chemistry and project management, o2h Discovery supports biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies from hit identification through lead optimisation and into IND-enabling studies.

For more information, visit: www.o2hdiscovery.co

About the o2h Kickstarter Award

Launched in 2022, the o2h Kickstarter Award was created to provide a chemistry and discovery boost to early-stage biotech companies developing novel therapeutics. The programme supports companies that have secured initial funding and are seeking to generate critical scientific data ahead of their next funding milestone.
Since launch, the programme has completed multiple international editions across the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and Israel, supporting more than 40 biotechnology companies globally. Award recipients receive access to dedicated chemistry teams, integrated discovery expertise and project management support designed to accelerate early-stage drug discovery programmes.

For more information, visit: https://o2h.com/the-o2h-kickstarter-competition/

About the o2h Discovery Platinum Partner Programme

The o2h Discovery Platinum Partner Programme enables venture capital firms, venture builders, incubators, accelerators, technology transfer offices and innovation ecosystems to extend the benefits of the o2h Kickstarter Award directly to eligible portfolio companies and ventures. By combining investment, strategic guidance and integrated drug discovery support, the programme helps early-stage biotechnology companies generate the scientific data needed to achieve critical technical, commercial and fundraising milestones.

Through this collaborative model, Platinum Partners can offer their founders access to medicinal chemistry, peptide discovery, biology, ADME and project management expertise at a stage where scientific progress is often constrained by limited resources. The programme reflects o2h Discovery’s commitment to strengthening the global biotech innovation ecosystem by helping more promising therapies progress from early discovery towards meaningful clinical and commercial outcomes.

For more information, visit: https://o2h.com/o2h-discovery-platinum-partner/

Media Contact
Mayank Gupta
Marketing Manager
Platinum Partner Programme
o2h Discovery