Lunaphore hones series C pitch

Lunaphore, a Switzerland-based cancer research and diagnostics spinout of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, yesterday revealed it had raised an initial CHF23m ($23.6m) in series C funding led by healthcare group PHC Holdings.
The transaction, completed on January 15, also feature venture capital firm Redalpine Venture Partners, investment firm Alpana Ventures and investment group Occident.
Founded in 2014, Lunaphore has developed a human tissue analysis system for cancer research and pathological studies.
The spinout’s flagship product, LabSat Frozen, is able to run immunohistochemistry tests – a process of selectively identifying antigens in cells – in just 12 minutes in an automated and reproducible manner.
The series C funding will allow Lunaphore to increase next-generation product development, as well as facilitate an entry into the US and ramp up operations in Europe.
James Post, president of Epredia, a precision cancer diagnostics subsidiary of PHC, has joined the board of directors.
Lunaphore previously closed a $11.6m series B round in 2018, having attracted $5.5m in an extension from Occident, financial services firm Zürcher Kantonalbank and undisclosed existing investors and investment funds.
Lunaphore had secured the initial $6.2m in a 2017 convertible debt round backed by Zühlke Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of enterprise IT services firm Zühlke, as well as Occident, Polytech Ecosystem Ventures, Redalpine Venture Partners, and unnamed private and existing investors.
Redalpine Venture Partners had led the spinout’s $2.1m series A round in 2015, investing alongside unnamed private investors from Switzerland and the UK. Alpana Ventures backed the latest round as an existing investor.