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| Rheonix's EncompassMDx tool--Courtesy of Rheonix |
Molecular diagnostics outfit Rheonix reeled in $28.6 million to beef up commercialization for its molecular testing platforms, adding new funds to the pot as it looks to expand the reach for its innovative technology.
Advantage Capital Partners, Cayuga Venture Fund, Gefinor Capital, Limestone Capital Advisors and Rand Capital ($RAND) contributed financing, with other international investors also chipping in funds. The company plans to use the cash to spur product development and "fund existing business needs," Rheonix said in a statement.
"Laboratories across a range of markets, from diagnostics to food and beverage testing, are facing obstacles, such as inefficient workflow and a lack of highly trained staff," Rheonix CEO Greg Galvin said in a statement. "We're addressing these obstacles with easy-to-use and cost-effective tools capable of high throughput and high complexity in the worldwide sample-to-answer molecular diagnostics market."
Rheonix's EncompassMDx tool combines many testing steps into one platform, simplifying the process and potentially cutting down on costs. The linchpin of the company's technology is a proprietary cartridge the size of a smartphone, Rheonix CARD, which can run several samples including tissue, urine, saliva and whole blood through a molecular assay without user interference.
A separate product, Encompass Optimum, is geared toward high-complexity labs in the diagnostic, food and beverage industries.
The latest spate of funding builds on the $14 million Rheonix raised in 2013 to build out manufacturing and launch its first commercial product. In 2010, the Ithaca, NY-based company completed a $12.6 million Series A round led by Cayuga Venture Fund and Bill and Eric Allyn to advance its technology.
"This new series of funding reflects the confidence that existing investors have in the Rheonix team and its approach to the molecular diagnostics market," Rand Capital CEO Allen Grum said in a statement. "We are proud to help continue the work the shareholders originally chartered with their initial investments and see the Rheonix vision becoming a market reality."
- read the statement