Private equity firm Livingbridge has invested in Veramed, a specialist biostatistics and programming contract research organisation (CRO) serving pharmaceutical and biotech clients across the UK, Europe and the US.

Insider Media reports Veramed’s founders Matthew and Emma Jones will retain a significant shareholding and, along with the existing management team, continue to manage the business on a day to day basis.

Livingbridge’s investment will support the company’s strategy to expand geographically, broaden its offering and continually improve its employee and client experience.

Founded in 2012 by Matthew and Emma Jones and headquartered in London, Veramed provides statistical consulting, programming and study reporting, and market launch and commercialisation services to clients globally.

The business has since scaled both nationally and internationally through establishing offices in multiple locations across the UK, including bases in Manchester and Swansea, and international offices in mainland Europe, Ukraine and the US.

The investment has been made through Livingbridge’s Enterprise 3 fund, which invests in fast growth SMEs.

Livingbridge’s Sanjay Panchal said “From our first interactions with Matthew, Emma and the team at Veramed it was clear they were building something special. Their focus on quality and building a best-in-class culture has proven to be a winning formula in what is an exciting market.

“We feel privileged to partner with them and are looking forward to supporting their growth ambitions, while ensuring the business maintains the essence of what has made it successful to date.”

Matthew Jones, co-founder and chief executive of Veramed, said “We are excited to be announcing our partnership with Livingbridge, a partner that shares our values and has the capability to help us expand our capacity and reach within the pharma services sector.”

Emma Jones, co-founder and executive vice president, statistics at Veramed, said “Livingbridge’s significant prior experience in both the healthcare and services sectors makes them the perfect partner to work alongside the existing Veramed leadership team and help to support us in the next phase of our development.”