Cambridge, UK
Fluidic Analytics Ltd has raised $31 million to continue developing its transformational products for characterising proteins and their behaviour. The proceeds of the financing will be used to continue the commercial roll-out of the company’s lab-tools pipeline and to develop further high-value clinical applications of its technology.
Proteins and their behaviour are crucial to understanding how diseases develop, identifying the way that drugs interact with their targets, and developing new methods for matching the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. DNA gives clues about what is likely to happen over a lifetime. Proteins and their behaviour tell us what is actually happening now. To date, the emergence of a deep understanding of the biology underlying disease and health in real time has been hampered by the shortcomings of existing tools for protein characterisation.
Fluidic Analytics’ products are based on a proprietary technology platform from the University of Cambridge. This platform was designed explicitly to give deep insights into the way that proteins fold, aggregate and interact by characterising them in solution – precisely as they exist in the body. These products have the potential to help researchers understand the mechanisms underlying conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, pharmaceutical companies develop more effective drugs, and patients gain access to more accurate diagnostics in the clinic, at the pharmacy or even at home.
The financing was led by Draper Esprit, a pan-European venture capital fund that invests in disruptive technology companies at the early and growth stages. Joining the round as new investors were Delin Ventures and BGF, making its largest life-sciences investment to date and first in Cambridge. IQ Capital and Amadeus Capital Partners also joined Draper Esprit in backing Fluidic Analytics for a third successive time since the company’s first financing in 2015.
“This financing will power the global commercial launch of our Fluidity One system and enable our team to bring our next two lab-tools products to market. It will also allow us to advance a number of high-potential clinical applications that could help us make an even bigger impact on the world. We are delighted to be working with investors who share our vision of helping people everywhere make better decisions about how diseases are diagnosed, treatments are developed, and personal well-being is maintained.”
Andrew Lynn, Chief Executive Officer
Fluidic Analytics
“We are always looking for the brightest thinkers with the best teams and technology to back for the long-term, and we have found that in Fluidic Analytics. The progress that Fluidic has made to date has been exemplary. As we enter the century of biology, the world needs transformational technologies that can help us understand the full picture of how biology unfolds in daily life and we are delighted to be backing a company that is doing just that.”
Vishal Gulati, Healthtech VC
Draper Esprit plc
“The team at Fluidic Analytics have built a potentially life-changing technology and brought their idea from concept to production in an incredibly short time. The market for pharmaceutical tools and technology is thriving and Fluidic Analytics has created products for which there is growing demand. We’re excited to be supporting the team as they scale up and take advantage of the significant opportunity to develop this critical technology further.”
Tim Rea, Investor
BGF
Covington & Burlington LLP, Philip Hare Associates and Bracher Rawlins LLP acted as principal advisors for this financing. Additional support was provided by Confluence Tax LLP, Mills & Reeve LLP, Stratagem IPM Ltd, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and Wolf Greenfield & Sacks PC.
About Fluidic Analytics @fluidicanalytic
Understand the Machinery of Life
Fluidic Analytics envisions a world where information about proteins and their behaviour transforms our understanding of how the biological world operates and helps all of us make better decisions about how we diagnose diseases, develop treatments and maintain our personal well-being.
By building the world’s best tools, software and services for protein characterisation and making them universally accessible in the lab, in the clinic or at home, we are making this vision a reality not just for a small group of expert users, but for everyone who can benefit.
Introducing Fluidity One
The Fluidity One is the first in a series of lab tools products that Fluidic Analytics will be bringing to users looking to understand protein behaviour in the lab. Built on peer reviewed science and patented Fluidic Separation and Detection technology, the Fluidity One system analyses protein in solution and in their natural state using Microfluidic Diffusional Sizing (MDS). By simply loading 5 µL onto the chip, a scientist can rapidly measure changes in protein size caused by folding, aggregation or interactions with other proteins in a biologically relevant context, providing the most accurate method for characterising proteins rapidly in their native state.
For more information on how the Fluidity One system characterises proteins, please follow the link.
About Draper Esprit @draperesprit
Draper Esprit is one of the most active venture capital firms in Europe, developing and investing in disruptive, high growth technology companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe are capable of building the global businesses of the future. We fuel their growth with long- term capital, access to international networks and decades of experience building businesses. Currently Draper Esprit is a shareholder in a diverse portfolio of companies including Trustpilot, Graze, Perkbox, PushDoctor and Graphcore.
About BGF @BGFinvestments
BGF is the most active investor in growing businesses in the UK. An established and independent company, it has £2.5bn to support a range of growing companies – early stage, growth stage and quoted. BGF makes long-term equity capital investments in return for a minority stake in the companies it backs. Initial investments are typically between £1-£10m and BGF can provide significant follow-on funding.
BGF is a minority, non-controlling equity partner with a patient outlook, based on shared long-term goals with the management teams it backs. With a 150+ strong team, BGF offers an unparalleled international network of business leaders, sector experts, board-level non-executives and provides in-house support with Chair and senior executive selection and appointments.
About Delin Ventures
Delin Ventures is London based private technology focused investment firm founded by the serial entrepreneur, Igor Linshits. Delin invests in early stage U.K. technology businesses. Delin’s current portfolio includes import.io, AimBrain, the Plum Guide, Agile Analog, and Vidsy, as well as a number of other seed stage investments. Delin has also invested in funds managed by Local Globe, IQ Capital, Entrepreneur First, and Stride.vc. Delin Ventures is part of the Delin Group which also includes Delin Capital Asset Management, a leading investor and developer of logistics real estate.
About IQ Capital @IQ_Capital_Fund
IQ Capital is a Cambridge-based venture capital firm that invests in UK ‘deeptech’ across sectors including machine learning, AI, engineering and materials, and data-focused propositions based on disruptive algorithms. All the firm’s portfolio companies are potentially capable of dominating their respective markets on a global scale. The team typically invest at seed and series A stage, with significant capital reserved to scale portfolio companies through their growth stages. Initial investments typically range from £0.3m to £5m, with capacity to invest up to £10m per company over its life. IQ Capital’s current portfolio includes leading deeptech companies such as Speechmatics, Privitar, Thought Machine, Audio Analytic, Oxford Space Systems, Fluidic Analytics, Divido, Senseye and Spectral Edge.
The IQ Capital team has achieved over 20 exits to date including trade sales to Oracle, Google, Apple and Huawei and several IPOs. IQ Capital has led 22 deep-tech investments over the last three years and expects to invest in 10-15 new companies per annum.
