Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the venture capital investor focused on deeptech and life science businesses in the Cambridge ecosystem, announces its participation in the £50 million ($67 million) Series B financing raised by Microbiotica, a global leader in gut bacterial culturing. The financing, which is the largest microbiome-related financing in Europe to date, will fund Phase 1b clinical trials in immuno-oncology and ulcerative colitis, and the expansion of the company’s microbiome-based product pipeline to other indications. The Company’s pioneering technology has the potential to deliver a new era of personalised medicine based on the microbiome.
Cambridge-headquartered Microbiotica, which spun out of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in 2016, has taken microbiome analysis and patient stratification from clinical data to a new level of precision, and translates this into new therapeutics and biomarkers. The company’s proprietary technology is based on comprehensive gut bacterial isolation, its leading database of gut bacterial reference genomes, and advanced bioinformatic and machine learning tools. Over the last five years Microbiotica has partnered with leading organisations, such as Cancer Research UK, Cambridge University Hospitals, University of Adelaide and Genentech.
The international investment syndicate was co-led by Flerie Invest and Tencent. After leading its seed round in 2016, CIC has participated in this Series B alongside new investors including British Patient Capital, and existing investors IP Group and Seventure Partners.
Robert Tansley, Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, said:
We are delighted to have seen the progress made by Microbiotica since our initial investment. Microbiotica’s unrivalled capability to culture and characterise all gut bacteria from patients at scale coupled with its suite of impressive bioinformatic and machine learning tools makes the company a leader in the microbiome field. We are delighted to continue to support the company as it applies its platform to address important diseases areas with precision medicine.
Mike Romanos, Co-Founder and CEO of Microbiotica, said Mike Romanos, Co-Founder and CEO of Microbiotica, said:
This major fundraise is a substantial validation of both our team and our world-leading technology. We are fortunate to have the support from new and current investors who have recognised the importance of the microbiome’s therapeutic potential and Microbiotica’s unique capabilities. Cambridge Innovation Capital has supported us from the very start of our journey, and the team’s continued partnership will be invaluable as we get closer to delivering our pioneering technologies to the world.