Exciting Instruments has raised £4 million seed investment led by Northern Gritstone.
The University of Sheffield spinout is set to revolutionise health research through its pioneering single-molecule detection platform.
Single-molecule microscopy is one of the most powerful tools to understand disease and develop targeted therapies; however, it has often been limited by complex workflows and limited accessibility, restricting its use so far to select and specialist research environments.
Exciting Instruments has developed and delivers a practical and efficient new platform for single-molecule detection, opening up adoption to an unconstrained user base spanning pharma, healthcare and other industrial applications.
Its platform technology allows users to visualise and analyse individual molecules and their interactions, whilst also providing high throughput processing and automation of analytics.
Exciting Instruments says early customers of the platform are already using it to drive new discoveries in drug development, clinical diagnostics and a range of research applications in both the pharmaceutical industry and within leading research laboratories.
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Empirical Ventures led on scientific due diligence, while NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance (managed by Praetura Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II) and serial entrepreneurs Stan Boland and Jonathan Millner joined the round.
The company now plans to further develop commercial partnerships, build out its team and evolve its products.
Co-founder Tim Craggs, CEO, and Rob Bell, COO, said the aim is to “create a new era where single-molecule insights become the foundation for breakthroughs that will redefine what’s possible in human health”.
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, added: “Their technology will open up a broad range of health-related research and discovery and will also support job creation in Sheffield’s thriving tech cluster.”