TOP 100 Swiss Startup Lunaphore Raises CHF 23M in Series C Financing to Better Diagnose and Fight Cancer

06.02.2020 11:30, Guillaume Tinsel

Finalized on January 15, 2020, the round was led by the Japanese strategic investor PHC Holdings Corporation, a global healthcare company that owns Epredia, a leading provider of comprehensive solutions for precision cancer diagnostics. Lunaphore will invest the proceeds of Series C funding in market and product expansion including a US market entry, the ramp-up of activities in Europe and the development of next-generation instruments. We interviewed Lunaphore's Co-Founder & COO Deborah Heintze about the evolution of her company and the coming developments.

Lunaphore's founders: Diego Gabriel Dupouy, Déborah Heintze and Ata Tuna Ciftlik

Can you remind us Lunaphore’s mission and core innovation? 
Lunaphore was born as a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) following the creation of an innovative microfluidic chip that was able to improve time and quality of tissue incubations. The company was founded with the vision of bringing –omics like approaches to in-situ tissue analytics for cancer research and diagnostic purposes. More specifically, Lunaphore aims to improve the speed and quality performance of existing tissue analytics tests as well as to automate some of the most sophisticated assays, thanks to high-precision fluidics. We further aim to enable digital pathology through the integration of imaging systems such as a microscope with sequential data extraction. The development of these innovative automated tissue staining platforms is based on a unique microfluidic technology called Fast Fluidic Exchange Technology (FFeX) which lies at the core of our innovation.

How will the investment by PHC Holdings Corporation (PHCHC) help achieve your vision?
The Series C round of CHF 23 M is led by PHCHC and includes existing investors Redalpine Venture Partners, OCCIDENT and Alpana Ventures. PHCHC is a global Healthcare company who owns Epredia, a leading player in the field of precision cancer diagnostics. Lunaphore is aiming to enable new-generation tissue analytics tests with our unique automation capabilities. Here is where the expertise, the wide and expanding network of the PHC Group as well as the deep knowledge of the anatomical pathology field of Epredia can really help us gain scale and speed in this process.

You won Venture Kick in 2015. How did Venture Kick help you lay the foundation for your growth and today's achievement?
The support we got from Venture Kick earlier on was very important to build and consolidate our business case, being challenged and “kicked” by the right coaches. Venture Kick also helped us by accessing their network and create credibility and visibility to further get investment and grow the company. 

You also were listed at the TOP 100 Swiss Startups from 2015 to 2019, and ranked #2 last year. How did TOP 100 help you lay the foundation for your growth and today's achievement?
The TOP100 Swiss Startups ranking is a credibility scoring point for many investors. Being highly ranked has helped us receive requests from investors and partners, which were essential to create further traction and grow of the company. The rankings in the TOP100 were also perceived internally as a nice recognition and a source of motivation to continue striving for new achievements.