Horizon Discoveries, a biotech spin-out from Cambridge University, has announced the close of a £18.2m ($29.1m) series C round.
The round was led by Dr Jonathan Milner, chief executive of life science firm Abcam. New investors in Horizon include the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund, investment fund Wren Capital and venture firm Calculus Capital. Joining in participation were DFJ Esprit, MVM Life Science, Roche Venture Fund, and Providence Investment Company.
Horizon, based in Cambridge’s tech cluster, has raised a total of $50.3m in venture funding since being founded in 2007, according to deal database CrunchBase. Horizon enjoyed an export-led growth rate of 364% between 2008-11, which resulted in the company being awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise in International Trade, and has expanded to a headcount of 80.
The firm will use the latest round of funding to continue development of its product range, which is used to support the development of personalised medicines. It will also use the funds to deliver research programs which have over £100m milestone payments in place.
Jonathan Milner, lead investor in the round, said: “We live in a golden age of biology and companies like Horizon are exciting because of the application of a business model that is able to exploit the many diverse opportunities that arise from having a scalable and versatile platform technology. I look for three things in companies that I get involved with and invest in. The first is an outstanding management team, the second is a platform technology that can disrupt and grow a market and last but not least customers banging on the door. Horizon has all three in abundance.”
