Justin is a partner specialising in venture and growth capital work for early stage and growing technology companies and the investors who support them.
He advises companies, investors and founders on venture and growth capital transactions at all stages from pre-seed through seed, Series A and on to larger institutional investment rounds. He also advises on M&A/exit deals and corporate matters generally.
His practice covers all aspects of the technology sector, but he has a focus on deals in the life sciences sector, and a particular expertise in advising in relation to commercialisation deals involving technologies developed at the UK's leading universities and research institutions.
Justin co-leads OC Ventures, Osborne Clarke's resource centre for the ventures ecosystem.
Helping you succeed in tomorrow's world
The UK is a really exciting place to be involved in science and innovation. I use my experience and knowledge to help the successful commercialisation of the best ideas. This can mean offering guidance and mentoring to founders of new companies or delivering complex funding or exit transactions – all of which is rewarding and always interesting.
Clients praise Justin Starling's ability to get to the issue quickly and always focus on the commercial importance rather than getting bogged down in legal arguments. He is well versed in the representation of investors and investees in the venture capital space, and is particularly active in the technology sector. (Venture Capital UK, Chambers 2019).
Advent Life Sciences/Proximie Series C
Advised Advent Life Sciences on its lead investment in global health technology platform Proximie's $80m Series C funding round.
Sale of Zihipp
Advised the shareholders of Imperial College diabetes and obesity therapies spin-out Zihipp on its sale to Metsera, Inc.
Breathe Battery Technologies/Volvo Cars Tech Fund
Advised Breathe Battery Technologies on an investment by Volvo Cars, enabling Volvo to provide the latest version of Breathe's algorithm-enabled charging software for use on Volvo's new generation fully electric cars.
AviadoBio/$80m Series A
Advised pioneering gene therapy company AviadoBio on its $80m Series A funding by a syndicate of leading global life sciences investors.
Albion VC and Delin Ventures/uMed £10m Series A
Advised AlbionVC and Delin Ventures on their investment in health and research technology company uMed's £9.8 million Series A funding round intended to boost participation in clinical trials.
Optellum/Series A
Advised Oxford based AI lung cancer diagnosis innovator Optellum on $14m Series A funding round.
Sale of Cherwell Laboratories
Advised the shareholders of Oxford based cleanroom microbiology solutions provider Cherwell Laboratories on it sale to AnalytiChem group.
Albion VC/Toqio Series A
Advised Albion VC on the £17m Series A funding of fintech SaaS provider Toqio.
Epitopea/Series A
Advised a syndicate of international investors including Cambridge Innovation Capital, Advent Life Sciences, CTI Life Sciences and FSTQ on their $14m dual UK/Canadian funding of Epitopea to advance cancer immunotherapeutics.
Mestec/Acquisition by Eyelit Inc.
Advised on the sale of Mestec, a cloud based SaaS provider in complex manufacturing automation, to Eyelit Inc.
UCL Technology Fund/Bloomsbury Genetic Therapies Seed Funding
Advised UCL Technology Fund on its £5m seed investment in Bloomsbury, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing potentially curative treatments for patients suffering from rare neurological and metabolic diseases.
Argonaut Therapeutics Ltd
We advised Argonaut Therapeutics Ltd, a spin-out from the University of Oxford, on its merger with Celleron Therapeutics Ltd., another Oxford spin-out, to form IngenOx Therapeutics.
UCL Technology Fund/Apollo Healthcare
Advised the UCL Technology Fund on its investment in Apollo Therapeutics as part of a $145 million financing led by Patient Square Capital, with participation from additional investors including Rock Springs Capital and Reimagined Ventures.