Accuri Cytometers Completes $13 Million Series C Financing
ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 8 -- Accuri Cytometers Inc., a life sciences company developing revolutionary bench-top flow cytometer systems, today announced the completion of a $13 million Series C financing led by Fidelity Biosciences and Flagship Ventures. Current investors including Baird Venture Partners and Arboretum Ventures also participated in the financing. Accuri will use the proceeds from the Series C financing primarily to expand its commercialization activities for the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer(R) System. Bahaa Fam, Venture Partner, Fidelity Biosciences and Harry Wilcox, Partner, Flagship Ventures, will join the company's Board of Directors.
Explicitly designed for routine use by biomedical researchers in their own labs, Accuri's flow cytometer system is a full featured bench-top cell analysis system that provides capabilities similar to industry-leading flow cytometers in a more user-friendly format and at a fraction of the cost.
"This successful Series C financing led by Fidelity Biosciences and Flagship Ventures reflects the progress we have achieved in developing and commercializing our breakthrough flow cytometer system," said Jennifer Baird, CEO of Accuri. "Our strong initial acceptance in the marketplace is now ramping up and these new resources will enable us to further expand the reach of our marketing and sales efforts. We are pleased that our existing venture investors all participated in this round, and we look forward to the contributions of our new Board members."
Accuri created its revolutionary C6 system with input from hundreds of researchers who use flow cytometry, including many whose research has been fettered by resource constraints in their facilities. The company teamed with Menlo Innovations, which brought its unique, award-winning methods to the development of the Accuri system's easy-to-use analysis software, a critical component of the approach. Accuri's innovations, coupled with its state of the art components, result in a cytometer that is powerful, robust, compact and affordable, at less than one-third the cost of the market leader.
"We are enthusiastic about our investment in Accuri," said Bahaa Fam, Venture Partner, Fidelity Biosciences. "By making flow cytometry technology more affordable, accessible and usable, Accuri's high performance systems have the potential to accelerate and broaden the scope of biomedical research. We welcome this opportunity to help the company progress to the next level."
"Flow cytometry is an essential tool in biomedical research, and Accuri's outstanding team has responded to the need for accessible, affordable easy-to- use systems by completely re-inventing the flow cytometer from the ground up," said Harry Wilcox, Partner at Flagship Ventures. "The Accuri Flow Cytometer System is already gaining traction among researchers, and we are very optimistic about the future potential of this promising company."
"As Accuri continues to commercialize its revolutionary technology, we are very pleased to welcome Fidelity and Flagship representatives as new investors and as Board members," said Pete Shagory, Accuri Chairman and a Partner at Baird Venture Partners. "Their expertise in the research tools space will be especially valuable as Accuri expands its efforts to effectively grow the business."
About Accuri Cytometers
Accuri Cytometers, Inc. is an Ann Arbor-based life sciences company developing and marketing revolutionary high performance cell analysis systems designed to bring the power of flow cytometry into the labs of life sciences researchers everywhere. Reflecting the input of hundreds of researchers, the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer(R) is a full featured bench-top cell and bead analysis system that provides similar capabilities to those of industry-leading flow cytometers in an easy-to-use format and at a fraction of their cost. The Accuri system was engineered from the start to be compact, powerful and user-friendly, while also being affordable by most research laboratories. For more information, visit www.accuricytometers.com.
About Fidelity Biosciences
Fidelity Biosciences is a division of Devonshire Investors, which invests private equity on behalf of Fidelity Investments. For more than 30 years, the firm has had a significant presence in the venture capital and private equity industry. This provides Fidelity Biosciences with the flexibility, and capabilities of traditional venture capital firms while eliminating the additional pressures of fundraising. The result is a clear focus on building long-term value. For more information, please visit www.fidelitybiosciences.com.
About Flagship Ventures
Flagship Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on creating, financing and building innovative companies. Founded in 2000, Flagship manages over $600 million in early-stage funds and operates from its offices at Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA. With an active portfolio of over 40 companies, the firm's strategy is to balance its investments across three principal business sectors: Therapeutics, Life Science Tools & Diagnostics, and BioEnergy/Cleantech. During the past two decades Flagship's principals have been involved as founders or investors in many highly successful ventures including: Adnexus Therapeutics, Alere Medical, Aspect Medical, Celera Genomics, ChemGenics Pharmaceuticals, Color Kinetics, Cytyc, Helicos Biosciences, Hypnion, IDEXX, Morphotek, PerSeptive Biosystems and TripAdvisor. For more information please visit www.flagshipventures.com.
About Baird Venture Partners
Baird Venture Partners, the U.S.-based venture capital fund of Baird Private Equity, makes venture capital investments in early- and expansion-stage business services and healthcare/life sciences companies. Baird Venture Partners leverages its in-depth sector knowledge, experienced investment team and network of relationships to serve as a value-added partner for its portfolio companies. With a global team of 80 professionals in nine offices across the United States, Europe and Asia, Baird Private Equity and its affiliates have raised and managed approximately $2.4 billion in capital and invested in over 220 companies since the 1980s. For more information, please visit www.bairdventurepartners.com and www.bairdprivateequity.com.
About Arboretum Ventures
Arboretum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in the healthcare sector. Arboretum Ventures focuses primarily on investments in medical technology and healthcare services. Arboretum invests throughout the United States, with a special interest in the Midwest region. Founded in 2002 with headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich., Arboretum Ventures currently manages $85 million in capital. For more information, please visit www.arboretumvc.com.