On International Day of Women and Girls in Science – February 11 – Lucy Sykes, CEO of Cardiff-based medtech pioneers MeOmics Precision Medicine, has issued a clear message: while progress is being made across the STEM landscape, the sector is still far from equal, and women remain underrepresented at every level.
MeOmics started as a spin-out from Cardiff University in 2021, backed by Angel investors, an Innovate UK grant and support from partners St Andrew’s Healthcare. It uses stem cell-based techniques to identify patients’ biological types when conducting drug discovery testing for conditions such as schizophrenia.
Transforming patient outcomes
At the heart of MeOmics’ mission is a commitment to transforming outcomes for patients who have historically been overlooked — especially women. Traditionally, psychiatric diagnoses and treatments have been built around male‑centric data, leading to widespread misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis among women. MeOmics aims to close that gap by generating data that reflects the full diversity of the population, enabling precision medicine in psychiatry.
MeOmics recently received a £125,000 investment from Women Angels of Wales, led by serial investor Sara Boltman, and backed by match-investment from Angels Invest Wales. The round was also supported by £50,000 from existing investors, and followed a £25,000 grant from the Welsh Government, via Smart Flexible Innovation Support (SFIS).
“The world is changing, but it is still difficult”
As a woman leading a deep‑tech company in a sector where female CEOs remain rare, Lucy is candid about the challenges.
“The world is changing, but it is still difficult. Women Angels of Wales understand the unseen barriers women CEOs face, and they’ve supported me in ways others might not recognise. That support is invaluable.”
“Historically, data is biased towards men – certainly in clinical trials and therapeutic development. But that’s changing now. To make the right decisions, we need data that represents women and the diverse patient population. Only then can we develop exceptional medicines for precise populations.”
“Angels Invest Wales offers more firepower and runway”
Sara Boltman, lead investor in the latest round with MeOmics Precision Medicine, said she and fellow members of Women Angels of Wales recognised the strong investment opportunity the moment that Lucy first pitched for funding.
She said:
“As an angel investor, I see all kinds of opportunities and there are very few female founders out there. And when you look at the percentage of venture capital that female founders attract, it's really low, even given the fact that there are fewer female founders.
“When Lucy came to pitch to us, she was so enthusiastic about the problems that MeOmics can solve with precision psychiatry, I was intrigued and wanted to know more. Leading this round was exciting, and I'm really pleased to have been able to bring together a fantastic syndicate to support her.”
She added:
“The benefit of having Angels Invest Wales offering match funding means that the founder has more firepower, and runway to make progress towards their long-term goals.
“In many female angel groups, the absence of match funding makes it harder to build a substantial syndicate. Having it here made a real difference.”
