Date: 2015-04-29
Type of information: Financing round
Company: cytena (Germany)
Investors: High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) (Germany) private investor
Amount: € 1.1 million
Funding type: financing round
Planned used: Single cells are required for the development of state-of-the-art drugs, so-called biologicals as well as for the genetic analysis of single cells for cancer and stem cell research. cytena has developed a device called cy-Clone to separate single cells. The company will use this capital injection primarily to launch its product and to expand its marketing and distribution activities. The cy-Clone is a laboratory device that enables the gentle separation of cells. It is supported by an automated imaging process to encapsulate cells in droplets, which are delivered to any type of substrate. Thanks to this particularly gentle delivery method, the cells are able to survive post printing and can either be analyzed thereafter or grown into clonal colonies. To determine clonality, multiple images are recorded during the process. Cross-contamination is avoided by the use of disposable parts. The seed capital raised will enable the company to make the most of their technological advantage over competing technologies and to transition from producing each cy-Clone unit and its consumables individually to serial production. At the same time, cytena’s marketing and distribution channels will be widened more rapidly. “Currently, we are in particularly close contact with cell line development units in the pharmaceutical industry e. g. for biologicals and with researchers in the field of single-cell analyses. Obviously, efficiency and cell viability are key, but quite often these customers also need to fulfill the requirements set by regulatory bodies such as the FDA,” says André Gross, founding member and technical director of cytena.
Others: * On April 29, 2015, cytena, a University of Freiburg spin-off, received € 1.1 Million of seed capital from HTGF and an undisclosed private investor.
Therapeutic area: Technology - Services
