Medical products group PHC Holdings has led the CHF23m ($23.6m) first close of a series C round for Lunaphore, a Switzerland-based cancer research and diagnostics spinout of university and research institute EPFL.
Venture capital firm Redalpine Venture Partners, investment firm Alpana Ventures and investment group Occident also took part in the tranche, which was closed on January 15 but announced yesterday.
Lunaphore has developed a human tissue analysis system that employs microfluidic staining to execute assays for cancer research and pathological studies.
The company’s flagship product, LabSat Frozen, is designed to detect antigens and hapten molecules within a tissue sample, exploiting microfluidics and pressurised technology to expedite the flow of reagent chemicals and and limit sampling lead times.
The series C proceeds will fund product development and market expansion, as Lunaphore prepares to enter the US and ramp up operations in Europe. James Post, president of Epredia, a precision cancer diagnostics business in PHC Holdings’ portfolio, has joined its board of directors.
Lunaphore closed its most recent round at $11.6m in mid-2018 having attracted $5.5m of series B funding from financial services firm Zürcher Kantonalbank, Occident and undisclosed existing investors and investment funds.
The other $6.2m had been secured in a 2017 convertible debt round backed by Zühlke Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of enterprise IT services firm Zühlke, as well as Occident, Polytech Ecosystem Ventures, Redalpine Venture Partners and unnamed additional investors.
Redalpine Venture Partners led a $2.1m series A round for the company in 2015, participating alongside unnamed private investors from Switzerland and the UK. Alpana Ventures was identified as an existing investor in the latest round.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.