The Cavendish Laboratory spin-out will use the funds to help with commercial expansion and scale manufacturing of its cell platform.
Cambridge-based biotech company Semarion has raised $3.8 million (£2.9 million) in venture funding to help with commercial expansion and scale manufacturing of its cell platform.
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.
A spin-out from the Cavendish Laboratory, Semarion is developing next-generation tools to accelerate cell-based drug discovery. Its proprietary platform turns adherent cells into barcoded, assay-ready, automation-friendly reagents. This enables researchers to multiplex cell models, increase throughput, and generate richer datasets using existing tools and workflows.
With a growing pipeline of opportunities and strong industry interest, Semarion has said that it 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 commercialisation of its SemaCyte platform. This will allow the company to increase manufacturing and expand its field application support team.
Semarion says that its technology has already been adopted by leading global pharmaceutical organisations 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 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,” said Semarion chief executive and co-founder Jeroen Verheyen.
The firm has now raised £5.3 million in three rounds of funding, according to CrunchBase.
