Photo by Stewart Attwood
Left to right: Anne Muir (Eos), Albert Nicholl (Carcinotech), Ishani Malhotra (Carcinotech), Sarah Newbould (British Business Bank), and David Milroy (Maven)
Scottish-based healthcare start-up Carcinotech has announced that it has raised 4.2 million GBP in funding as the company looks to build on its traction in the UK and Europe, with US expansion planned later this year.
Carcinotech’s Carcino3D technology enables the manufacture of 3D printed micro-tumours, using cells derived from patient biopsies and blood samples to simulate the tumour microenvironment, accelerating ethical drug screening and the delivery of more effective cancer treatments to market.
Ishani Malhotra, CEO and founder of Carcinotech, said: “Our vision is to be at the forefront of cancer drug testing and provide personalised medicine testing to every individual suffering from cancer to improve their treatment and chance of survival. Working with global partners, leading pharma companies, surgeons, pathologists, and clinicians, Carcinotech aims to significantly accelerate oncology drug development.”
In October, Carcinotech announced a partnership with Gothenburg-headquartered CELLINK, leveraging CELLINK’s bioprinting solutions and Carcinotech’s expertise in producing bioprinted living tumours to develop cutting-edge cancer models.
Malhotra added: “As part of ongoing commercialisation, we have built strong industry partnerships in Europe, and are now actively engaged in replicating these in North America.”
St Andrews-based Eos Advisory (Eos) led the investment alongside the Investment Fund for Scotland (IFS) managed by Maven Capital Partners, Scottish Enterprise, Old College Capital, Investing Women Angels, and existing investors TRICAPITAL, SIS Ventures, Gabriel Investment Syndicate, and Alba Equity.
Maven Capital Partners, through the 150 million GBP Investment Fund for Scotland, completed a 750,000 GBP equity investment in the start-up. This marks the first major deal from the fund, which was launched in October 2023 by the government-backed British Business Bank, with the aim of boosting the supply of early-stage finance to small and medium-sized businesses across the country.
"Carcinotech's progress over the last 12 months has been impressive and the company is ideally placed to capitalise on the need for more predictive, non-animal models for testing of anti-cancer drugs and the huge opportunity for personalised medicine in cancer treatment. Carcinotech's models are reproducible and provided in a familiar format for high-throughput screening, key requirements for adoption by the pharmaceutical industry for the testing of drug candidates. I am very much looking forward to working with Ishani and her team and to draw on Maven's vast experience of backing smaller businesses to help scale this important business," said David Milroy, Partner at Maven.
Ken Cooper, Managing Director, Venture Solutions at the British Business Bank added: "Carcinotech has huge potential to transform the way cancer treatments are tested and developed with its advanced 3D bio printing technology. The investment marks a significant milestone for the Bank's Investment Fund for Scotland and so we are especially pleased to see it is supporting a female founder leading the effort to deliver this cutting-edge medical technology as well as the company's international expansion."
