The Harvard spinout has raised a second funding round that included existing shareholder Cedars-Sinai, boosting its total equity funding to $40m.
Emulate, a US-based biotechnology spinout of Harvard University’s Wyss Institute, raised $28m in a series B round backed by hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Monday.
NanoDimension, OS Fund, Atel Ventures, Leandro P Rizzuto Foundation’s ALS Finding a Cure program, private investor Hansjörg Wyss and an additional, unnamed investor also participated in the round.
Founded in 2013, Emulate is developing organs-on-chips technology. The chips are the size of small batteries and contain tens of thousands of living human cells and tissues that help researchers test their treatments with greater precision and control than today’s cell-culture or animal experiments.
The technology is initially aimed at lung, liver, intestine and skin organs, though Emulate hopes to use the latest funding to expand the platform to other areas such as the kidney, brain and heart.
The money will also go towards the acceleration of Emulate’s research and development efforts, the launch of its technology and increased strategic agreements with corporate and academic partners. The company has already signed a collaboration agreement with pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson.
Emulate raised $12m in a 2014 series A round led by NanoDimension that included Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. It had previously received more than $40m in grants from the US Food and Drug Administration and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
– This article first appeared on our sister site Global Corporate Venturing.
