The biotech company will use the funds to continue to develop its DNA nanotechnology platform for the early detection of tumours.
Biotech company InvenireX has raised £2 million in Seed funding to continue to develop its DNA nanotechnology platform.
The investment is led by DSW Ventures and backed by XTX Ventures and Cambridge Technology Capital. It is the firm’s second round of funding. It previously raised £500,000 in March last year from XTX Ventures and DSW Ventures.
Funds raised will be used to help the company overcome longstanding challenges in identifying biological markers.
“We’re made of DNA – that’s the source code. If you can pick up traces of faults and errors in that code, you can detect problems across the board before symptoms appear. We’ve built the ultimate needle-in-a-haystack detector – a tool that we can put in the hands of scientists to enable the discoveries of tomorrow,” explained chief executive and founder Dan Todd.
Programmable DNA nanostructures
Molecular detection methods have seen little advancement over decades, the firm says. Techniques like polymerase chain reaction, which were not originally designed for this purpose, are often repurposed for early disease detection despite needing complex sample preparation. Such processes frequently result in loss of valuable molecular markers essential for accurate detection. This InvenireX believes provides it with an opening.
Programmable DNA nanostructures called “nanites” are the backbone of InvenireX’s platform. They capture genetic markers within custom-designed microfluidic chips.
Using an AI-powered reader, the platform quantifies and identifies specific targets immediately, which contrasts significantly with the timelines of traditional methods.
Potential applications the firm believes are vast, with the promise of detecting tumours as small as one millimetre up to a decade earlier than current methods. This could involve various uses, like aiding vaccine manufacturers in confirming their product compositions and assisting researchers in exploring biological markers difficult to detect until now.
