Nanostart has increased its stake in Curiox Biosystems Pte Ltd, Singapore, to almost 19 percent by a follow-up investment through its Nanostart Singapore Early Stage Venture Fund I. The investment is part of a second financing round, in which several experienced life science investors as well as a corporate investor joined as new investors in Curiox. Nanostart remains the lead investor. This is also the first investment of Nanostart's recently closed Nanostart Singapore Early Stage Venture Fund.
The funds shall help Curiox to tackle the therapeutics screening market for pharmaceutical and biotech firms. Having successfully established its semi-automated product, the DropArray™ LT, with numerous customers from universities and government research laboratories in Singapore, the company now aims to introduce this new product line to the market and also to expand internationally, in particular to the USA and Europe. The DropArray™ HT targets primarily big pharma and biotech companies and major research labs which require a significant level of automation, whereas the DropArray™ LT serves as a semi-automated solution for smaller research labs.
Referring to the expansion plans, Namyong Kim, CEO of Curiox, says: „We are happy about the continuing support from our existing investors and the expanded investors base. We will use the funds to expand our product line and gain the first customers overseas. We expect to close deals with major customers very soon.“
Andreas Kröll, Managing Director of Nanostart Asia and Nanostart's representative on Curiox' board, comments: „The strong investor interest underlines the huge potential of the company's products. After the financing, we will hold almost 19% in the company, which represents a great asset for Nanostart AG and its shareholders"