Semarion, a University of Cambridge spin-out combining materials engineering and cell biology to tackle unmet drug screening needs, has raised £2.9 million in funding led by Parkwalk, with participation from The FSE Group, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Oxford Innovation Finance, Found Capital, Cambridge Capital Group, and Start Codon. The investment will facilitate commercial expansion and scale manufacturing of its SemaCyte platform.
The SemaCyte platform enables adherent cell models to be handled as assay-ready, barcoded reagents for more flexible, data-rich, scalable drug discovery. Scientists face increasing pressure to generate more cell-based data, improve automation and drive operational efficiency, and SemaCytes enable this within existing workflows and infrastructure.
The funding will be used to drive further commercialisation of the SemaCyte platform, increase manufacturing throughput, expand the field application support team, strengthen partnerships and support broader customer adoption.
Its technology has already been adopted by leading global pharmaceutical organisations, including top 10 pharma companies across the US and Europe, with multiple pilot programmes progressing towards broader commercial rollout. Semarion has also established collaborations with global life science tools providers including Revvity and SPT Labtech to advance automated cell-based assay workflows. This funding follows a previous $2.89 million USD seed round raised in 2022.
Parkwalk is excited to be supporting the development of Semarion’s technology that has the potential to make a step change in cell-based research, accelerating a critical path in drug discovery. We are backing a team that has proven it can execute in delivering a product that works and can be adopted in customer workflows. This funding will allow Semarion to scale, reaching its full potential and creating value for investors and making a real-world impact.
Semarion’s approach aligns strongly with the industry’s growing demand for more scalable, information-rich cell-based workflows. Their unique use of optically barcoded cell microcarriers opens up exciting new possibilities for high-content screening and profiling, helping researchers generate richer datasets without sacrificing throughput. We have greatly enjoyed working with the Semarion team and look forward to continuing our collaboration to advance next-generation drug discovery workflows.
This funding marks an important step as we scale to meet growing demand from the industry. Scientists are under increasing pressure to generate more cell-based data, improve automation and drive operational efficiency. SemaCytes enable them to do this within existing workflows and infrastructure, and we are now focused on translating that momentum into broader adoption.
