Semarion, a University of Cambridge spin-out company from the Cavendish Laboratory combining materials engineering and cell biology to tackle unmet drug screening needs, today announced it has raised $3.8 million USD (£2.9 million GBP). The fundraise was led by Parkwalk, and joined by The FSE Group, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Oxford Innovation Finance, Found Capital, Cambridge Capital Group, and Start Codon. The investment will facilitate commercial expansion and scale manufacturing of the Company's SemaCyte® platform which enables adherent cell models to be handled as assay-ready, barcoded reagents for more flexible, data-rich, scalable drug discovery.
Image Credit: Semarion
With a growing pipeline of opportunities and strong industry interest, Semarion is focused on broad-scale customer adoption, strengthening partnerships and preparing for its next phase of growth. The funding will be used to drive further commercialization of the SemaCyte platform, enabling the Company to increase manufacturing throughput and expand the field application support team.
Semarion's technology has already been adopted by leading global pharmaceutical organizations, including top 10 pharma companies, across the US and Europe, with multiple pilot programs progressing towards broader commercial rollout. The Company has also established collaborations with global life science tools providers including Revvity, which has integrated compatibility for SemaCyte detection into its imaging and analysis platforms, and SPT Labtech, combining the microcarrier technology with SPT Labtech's liquid handling platform to advance automated cell-based assay workflows.
This new funding is in addition to the Company's $2.89 million USD Seed round, which was raised in 2022.
Parkwalk is excited to be supporting the development of Semarion's technology that has the potential to make a step change in cell-based research, accelerating a critical path in drug discovery. We are backing a team that has proven it can execute in delivering a product that works and can be adopted in customer workflows. This funding will allow Semarion to scale, reaching its full potential and creating value for investors and making a real-world impact."
John Pearson, Chief Investment Officer, Parkwalk
Karin Boettcher, Product Manager High-Content Screening, Revvity, commented: "Semarion's approach aligns strongly with the industry's growing demand for more scalable, information-rich cell-based workflows. Their unique use of optically barcoded cell microcarriers opens up exciting new possibilities for high-content screening and profiling, helping researchers generate richer datasets without sacrificing throughput. We have greatly enjoyed working with the Semarion team and look forward to continuing our collaboration to advance next-generation drug discovery workflows."
Jeroen Verheyen, CEO and Co-Founder at Semarion, added: "This funding marks an important step as we scale to meet growing demand from the industry. Scientists are under increasing pressure to generate more cell-based data, improve automation and drive operational efficiency. SemaCytes enable them to do this within existing workflows and infrastructure, and we are now focused on translating that momentum into broader adoption."