• £1.25 million already secured based on pre-money valuation of £18.2 million
• Additional funding will be used to further accelerate product development and company growth

Daresbury, UK, 02 October 2018: Arcis Biotechnology (“Arcis”), the nucleic acid sample preparation solution provider, today announced the closing of a £1.25 million investment round and a decision to overfund by an additional £0.5 million, via specialist life sciences equity crowdfunding platform Capital Cell. Arcis will use the funds to expand its innovative product range, and to support the continued growth of the company.

The £1.25 million in funding was secured from existing and new investors, based on a pre-money valuation of £18.2 million. Following its recent development successes in the isolation and preservation of microRNA (miRNA) and oncology biomarkers, Arcis is now looking to invest further in R&D, product development, and to drive international business expansion. The additional £0.5 million from the Capital Cell funding round will underpin the projected revenue growth and associated working capital requirements in the next two years. Previous investment includes an over-subscribed £2.5 million investment round in January 2016, and £160,000 under Innovate UK’s Biocatalyst programme.

Arcis’ product portfolio is based on its proprietary, rapid, two-step nucleic acid extraction and preservation technology, from a range of biological samples. The company has an extensive patent portfolio covering extraction and preservation of DNA and RNA for downstream processing by qPCR, RT-qPCR and sequencing. Arcis provides the system direct to customers as standalone kits, or through OEM sample preparation integration for assay development manufacturers. The speed, simplicity, and low resource requirements in comparison to competing technologies makes Arcis’ solution ideal for point-of-care, microfluidics or field-based testing.

Peter Whitehurst, CEO, Arcis Biotechnology, commented: “The Arcis technology has a strong IP portfolio, and has received a great deal of interest from commercial partners looking to negotiate a licence or OEM deal. We took the decision to work with Capital Cell due to their innovative approach, and their network of specialist life sciences investors. We look forward to working with the team to help fund the next exciting stage of Arcis’ development.”

Patrick O’Brien, Investment Manager, Capital Cell, said: “Arcis Biotechnology is being led by a highly experienced executive team, and has gained a strong foothold in the industry. We are delighted to be involved in the investment round.”