Lightcast, a life science tools startup, has raised £20 million in funding led by ARCH Venture Partners, with participation from M Ventures, Illumina Ventures, +ND Capital, Longwall Ventures, and OMX Ventures. It develops a benchtop platform for functional single-cell analysis, enabling researchers to directly measure how individual cells behave.
Conventional single-cell analysis methods rely on genomic or transcriptomic data to infer function, which does not fully capture how cells behave. Lightcast’s Envisia platform captures functional data directly using light-controlled droplet manipulation technology, allowing interrogation of tens of thousands of picolitre-scale droplets with speed and precision. Researchers can run sequential single-cell functional screening assays to advance antibody discovery workflows, while also using the platform to explore cell-cell interactions and applications in immunology and oncology.
Proceeds from the financing will support the full commercial release of the Envisia benchtop platform in 2026. It will also enable Lightcast to deepen strategic collaborations, expand its portfolio of single-cell functional assays, and achieve technical, manufacturing, and software readiness milestones. Over the past year, it has expanded its early access programme, working with pharmaceutical and academic institutions to validate platform performance, optimise workflows, and broaden applications.
To support commercialisation, Lightcast has appointed Brad Crutchfield as an advisor to the board. He previously served as chief commercial officer at 10x Genomics and currently advises and sits on the board of several life sciences companies.
This financing is a strong validation of both our technology and the momentum we are seeing with customers, and it will enable us to deliver a commercial platform that can meaningfully accelerate how new therapies are discovered and developed.
Lightcast’s early commercial traction underscores the strength of its platform and the size of the opportunity ahead. We are increasing our investment because the Envisia platform addresses a clear gap in the market, bringing real-time, function-focused cellular analysis out of specialised labs and onto the benchtop, where it can significantly accelerate antibody discovery, oncology therapeutics, and cell line development and production.
The Envisia platform represents an important evolution in single-cell analysis, enabling researchers to move beyond inference and directly measure function at the level of individual cells. Platforms that deliver this kind of insight have the potential to significantly accelerate discovery and reshape how new therapies are developed. I’m excited to support Lightcast as it brings this capability to a broad set of customers around the world.
