University of Virginia spectroscopy spinout BrightSpec has added series B capital from investors including the university's seed fund to an earlier $1.5m sum raised in 2015.
BrightSpec, a US-based spectroscopy instrument manufacturer spun out of University of Virginia, has raised $2.3m in a series B round led by MedVest Capital that featured the university’s Licensing and Ventures Group’s Seed Fund.
Founded in 2012, BrightSpec has devised an approach for molecular rotational resonance (MRR) spectroscopy, a scientific measurement instrument for examining traces of chemical components within a given sample.
BrightSpec’s MRR platform continuously monitors complex chemical attributes critical to its target applications without the samples requiring separating or preconditioning. The target applications include pharmaceutical research, fine chemical production, advanced manufacturing and food safety.
The series B capital will aid BrightSpec’s corporate development and support the launch of a new product.
BrightSpec’s co-founders include chief technology officer Justin Neill, a PhD graduate from University of Virginia, as well as chief operating officer and senior software architect Dave McDaniel, who studied in the computational group at the university’s Center for Applied Biomechanics.
BrightSpec previously closed a $1.5m equity round backed by undisclosed investors in 2015, according to a securities filing.
Robert Lloyd, co-founder and chief executive of BrightSpec, said: “This financing supports BrightSpec market development for process R&D and process control applications in key pharmaceutical and industrial sectors.
“Several recent studies using MRR for analysis of impurities in small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients will be published in major peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at a series of conferences in the US and Europe later this year.”
