Cytemos, an Edinburgh-based life science company that has developed a proprietary new approach to analysing cells, has raised £4m in a round led by Scottish angel network Archangels.
The new investment will enable Cytomos to significantly advance the development of its technology and substantially expand the team.
The company is targeting commercialisation of its platforms in 2024.
Over the past year, Cytomos has grown its operational management and strategic team with the appointments of David Rigterink (CEO) and Lindsay Fraser (CSO).
The investment round was led by existing investors Archangels with participation from Old College Capital, Scottish Enterprise and new investor British Business Bank.
Cytomos has developed its technology platform – Cytomos Dielectric Spectroscopy (CDS) – to address the unmet needs of the biopharma industry, providing a groundbreaking high-speed, scalable and low-cost revolution beyond current cell analysis systems.
Scientists are under pressure to bring novel therapies to market, faster and more affordably.
However, securing access to the right information at the right time is a major challenge, frequently resulting in crucial information being compromised at critical stages.
Sarah Hardy, director and head of new investments at Archangels, said: “As a highly innovative, Scottish early-stage life science company with global horizons, Cytomos is an excellent fit for our investment portfolio.
“Its ambitious vision to improve real time cell analysis in formats to better suit the end users will revolutionise the development and commercialisation of products in the bioprocessing and cell and gene therapies spaces.
“We’re looking forward to working with David and the team as they drive the business forward, making smarter, faster and more accurate cell analysis finally more accessible.”
David Rigterink, CEO at Cytomos, said: “We are uniquely positioned in harnessing the power of consumer electronics technology to meet the emerging, complex needs of the bioprocess industry.
“On the back of a very successful year for Cytomos, this new funding will now allow us to scale up our engagement with industry partners.
“We truly believe that, through our CDS technology, we offer a powerful platform which will help the scientific community bring novel therapies to market faster and radically reduce costs by making better informed, game-changing decisions a lot earlier.”
Kerry Sharp, Director of Entrepreneurship and Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “We’ve worked with Cytomos for many years so it’s great to see the team expanding and the company secure the investment needed to advance the ground-breaking CDS platform towards commercialisation next year.”
Last month Archangels, a leading business angel syndicate investing in early-stage Scottish life sciences and technology companies, bolstered its firepower by raising £12m.
It followed a co-investment agreement with British Business Investments via its Regional Angels Programme.