Cambridge-founded automated cell analytics platform Sphere Fluidics has added $2m of funding, bringing its lifetime haul to $14.9m.
Sphere Fluidics, a UK-based automated cell analysis system spinout of University of Cambridge, closed a $2m round on Wednesday backed by investment firm Greenwood Way Capital.
24Haymarket also supplied capital, as did investment manager Oxford Technology and Innovations EIS Fund.
Sphere Fluidics has devised an automated cell analytics platform branded Cyto-Mine that is able to screen, sort, image and verify individual cells for purposes including antibody discovery projects.
Cyto-Mine has a maximum daily processing capacity of 40 million cells, from which it can pick out cells with specific biological traits to aid the client’s project objectives.
The cash has been allotted to expand Sphere Fluidics’ operational and sales capabilities in the UK and US, where the company will open a new West Coast sales office. Sphere Fluidics plans to seek further funding in the future to continue expanding its servicing capacity.
University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund (UCEF) III, a university co-investment vehicle managed by Parkwalk Advisors, participated in a $7m round for Sphere Fluidics in 2016, adding to $3.4m supplied two years before by its predecessor fund, UCEF II, along with Parkwalk’s Fund IV.
24Haymarket had led Sphere’s $2.5m series A round in 2013, with commitments from Cambridge Enterprise, the university’s tech transfer office, Providence Investment Company, London Business Angels Roundtable EIS Fund and assorted angels.
– Disclaimer: 24Haymarket is also an investor in Mawsonia, which publishes Global University Venturing.
