Automata (London) announced today that it has raised $50 million in Series B funding to support its automation systems for life science research.
Octopus Ventures led the round, with participation from returning investors Hummingbird, Latitude Ventures, ABB Technology Ventures and Isomer Capital, and strategic investors such as In-Q-Tel.
Company officials plan to use the money to enable significant development in the U.K. and beyond of Automata Labs for scientists working in the diagnostic, drug discovery and biotech spaces.
Automata’s technology is meant to shorten scientists’ turnaround times by scaling capacities, allowing them to spend more time on their analyses.
The company has seen scientists and clinicians conduct nearly a million tests with its technology in recent months. The U.K.’s National Health Service has been using Automata’s systems in its pathology labs to help meet diagnostic backlogs and upscale capacity, with one lab running 40 fully automated stations 24/7.
“We are thrilled to see our users adopt automation at a scale that transforms their ability to deliver more innovation in the life sciences to ultimately accelerate their pursuit of progress,” Automata CEO Mostafa ElSayed said in a news release.
“For far too long, scientists and clinicians have been having to work with overly complex lab solutions: equipment and software are disjointed and difficult to orchestrate, while solutions are often too rigid and inappropriate for labs with small geographic footprints. Our next-generation technology solves this.”
Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery, RD
