1Drop raises $4.25 million to boost revolutionary diagnostics tool
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Venture Leader 1Drop Diagnostics successfully closed a $4.25 million Series A equity financing round. The newly acquired funds will support the commercialization and development of next generation portable medical diagnostic tests.
Based in Neuchâtel with an office in Boston, the life sciences startup develops an easy to use and laboratory compliant portable medical testing platform. From a single drop of blood applied to a biochip, 1Drop Diagnostics offers a complete panel of diagnostic test results within 15 minutes. This week, the startup announced having successfully raised $4.25 million - a financing round led by Christian Wildmoser (former partner CVC Capital Partners & Swiss Startup Group Investor). Major private investors of the Swiss Startup Group, Beat Schillig (IFJ Institute for Young Entrepreneurs) and Jean-Philippe de Toledo (CEO of Pharmacie Principale) also invested. This financing round was supported by Venturelab.The Swiss startup intends on using the new funds to expand R&D, and commercialize its medical diagnostics platform. Clinical studies to demonstrate the device's suitability for near-patient use are planned in the near future. The device has already been vetted in clinical validation studies in hospitals, clinical laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. 1Drop Diagnostics’ key partnerships include the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, NASA and EPFL. The company is currently working with pharmaceutical partners to conceive companion diagnostic products for cardiology, autoimmune disease and glucose metabolism drug candidates. 1Drop Diagnostics promising technology achieved world-class recognition upon becoming one of the TOP 100 Swiss startups between 2014 and 2017.
A Venturelab alumnus, the startup had the opportunity to expose its technology to the US market in 2014 and to the Chinese market in 2016 with the Venture Leaders program. Luc Gervais, 1Drop Diagnostics founder and CEO said: "Venturelab was instrumental in providing startup business training to have the confidence to take the leap and found our company. Venture Leaders in the US and in China really helped to improve our messaging, increase our visibility, and ultimately connect us with investors that participated in our financing round."