Lunaphore secures CHF 40 million to boost portfolio of tissue diagnostics solutions

Founded in 2014, Lunaphore develops spatial biology solutions—technologies for the visualization of molecules in cells and tissue—based on cutting-edge chip technology that can extract spatial proteomic and transcriptomic data from tumors and other tissues.

The company's technology empowers researchers in immunology, immuno-oncology, and neuroscience to push the boundaries of scientific discovery and drug development; it allows for the identification of biomarker "signatures" with clinical relevance to support the development of diagnostic tools and streamlines clinical trials, to ultimately improve patient outcomes.

The company now announced the completion of a Series D1 funding round with CHF 40 million. The round was led by Ernst-Göhner Stiftung Beteiligungen (EGSB); existing investors PHC Holdings Corporation, Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund, OCCIDENT, and Redalpine also participated. The financing includes a EUR 10 million venture debt facility provided by Norgine Ventures.

Lunaphore plans to use the funding to strengthen its growing portfolio offering and boost the commercial execution to address ever-growing demand.

"We are thrilled to have such a highly regarded name like EGSB among our investors. EGSB has an excellent track record of supporting rapidly growing portfolio companies beyond USD 100 million in revenues. In addition, the debt facility from Norgine Ventures will help us to invest in scaling our company even faster," said Ata Tuna Ciftlik, CEO of Lunaphore. "The funding comes in a meaningful time where we are experiencing excellent traction over the last 12 months since the first launch of our COMET™ product line, and we are very proud to see the world’s best institutions and blue-chip pharma companies among our customers."

COMET™ has been adopted by the world's leading research institutions and has been a growth driver for Lunaphore, where COMET™ sales grew more than 350% over 2022, according to the company's statement. The measured pull-through is best-in-class among existing comparables. "We have proven again that there are endless possibilities provided by turning existing reagent libraries into spatial biology and that true end-to-end precision automation is highly needed in the market," Ciftlik added.

Earlier this year, the startup entered a strategic collaboration with Sirona Dx, a leader in multi-omics, single-cell analytical services, making it the first US-based Contract Research Organization to offer COMET™ spatial biology platform as a service.


Lunaphore's co-founders, Diego Gabriel Dupouy (CTO), Déborah Heintze (CMO), and Ata Tuna Ciftlik (CEO)

EGS Beteiligungen AG is the investment arm of the Ernst Göhner Foundation. EGSB invests with a long-term horizon into established and growth-stage companies based in Switzerland and pursuing global ambitions. Amongst others, EGSB is invested in Sensirion, Spineart, and Beekeeper.

"Cutting edge technology enabling the next frontier in biology and medicine – that is Lunaphore," summarizes Dominik Sauter, Managing Director of EGS Beteiligungen AG the investment. "Lunaphore is at an inflection point of its trajectory, and we are thrilled to support the leadership team around CEO Ata Tuna Ciftlik in executing on their vision."

Lunaphore participated in Venture Leaders 2014 and Venture Leaders China in 2017. In 2015, the startup was awarded CHF 130,000 by Venture Kick, winning the innovation support program's third stage.

"The support we got from Venture Kick earlier on was very important to build and consolidate our business case, being challenged and 'kicked' by the right coaches," said Lunaphore's co-founder and COO Deborah Heintze in 2020. "Venture Kick also helped us by accessing their network and create credibility and visibility to further get investment and grow the company."

Lunaphore also made the TOP 100 Startup Swiss Startup ranking every year from 2015 to 2019, garnering third place in 2018 and second place in 2019. "The TOP 100 Swiss Startups ranking is a credibility scoring point for many investors. Being highly ranked has helped us receive requests from investors and partners, which were essential to create further traction and growth of the company," Heintze commented. The company was voted a TOP 100 Scale-Up from 2020 to 2022.