The Austrian deeptech startup Sarcura just closed an oversubscribed €7 million Seed Plus funding round to develop a next-generation cell therapy manufacturing platform.
Founded in 2019, Sarcura is developing an instrument platform for the manufacturing of advanced cell therapies. Their platform combines silicon chip technology and microfluidic processing to enable real-time process control and manipulation on a cellular level, enabling a fully automated and modular manufacturing system.
With a team of already around 20 employees Sarcura aims at building the next-generation machine platform for the manufacturing of personalised cell therapies in order to save lives and treat specific cancers.
The round was co-led by seed investors Lansdowne Investment Company Cyprus and IST Cube with participation from newly joined HCVC and tecnet equity. Besides returning seed investors Axilium Holding, Novacapital, and Nina Capital we are particularly happy to welcome newly joined European family offices with industrial biopharmaceutical backgrounds. The financing will fuel the development of Sarcura’s first system prototype.
“We are delighted to have successfully closed this funding round. It reflects the unmet need for breakthrough technologies to address the existing challenges in the manufacturing of cell therapies” said Daniela Buchmayr, Co-founder and CEO of Sarcura.
Engineered cell therapies bring hope to patients who lack alternatives. With more than 1400 CAR-T clinical trials ongoing, the advanced cell therapy industry has seen unprecedented growth, but the manufacturing of these lifesaving treatments remains a major bottleneck.
Daniela Buchmayr added: “Scientists aim to identify and engineer the right cells, enhancing control while lowering manufacturing cost. Sarcura unites cutting-edge silicon technologies such as integrated photonics in microfluidic cartridges, to automate, miniaturize and bring real-time control to cell therapy manufacturing.”
Jerry Yang, General Partner at HCVC stated: “Having spent the first 12 years of my career in semiconductors in Taiwan and Silicon Valley, I am really excited to have the chance to lead HCVC’s investment in Sarcura. Sarcura is addressing a huge pain point in cell therapy by leveraging semiconductor MEMS technology. If successful, they could completely change the cancer treatment landscape. I’m looking forward to partnering with Daniela and her co-founders.”