This equity round of investment was led by a US-based and Nasdaq-listed life science investor, and Taiwania Capital, the leading life science venture capital company based in Taiwan. It is also supported by investments from existing investors, including Swisscom Ventures, along with other partners. Nanolive is working closely with investors to secure a second close within ninety days.

Nanolive’s label-free microscope devices and digital analytical solutions provide researchers and scientists working in the biopharmaceutical industry and laboratories with tools required to accelerate innovation in growth industries such as drug discovery and cell therapy. 

Being able to screen thousands of living cells in 3D, without damaging them promises to advance how scientists study living cells. The quantitative analytical suite Nanolive combines sub-cellular resolution with AI-assisted digital assays to provide researchers and scientists an opportunity to study complex cell-drug perturbation dynamics and cell-cell interactions (e.g., T cell and target cell interactions), quantitatively, an approach that might revolutionize the cell-based assay phase of the drug discovery workflow.

“Life sciences are undergoing a fundamental transformation, and Nanolive is at the heart of it,” says Dr Yann Cotte, Nanolive’s CEO and co-founder. “We are honored to receive an investment from such an impressive group of investors who are excited to support us in our goal to transform the discovery and development of therapeutics. With this fundraising, we believe Nanolive is well-positioned to drive significant growth of our digital assay solutions and is at the leading edge of this global bioeconomy gold rush. We are selling the best picks and shovels for live cell solutions.” 

“We are thrilled to be part of a Swiss-based innovative company that will revolutionize the drug discovery process,” said Michael L Huang, managing partner of Taiwania Capital. “With this funding, Nanolive is well-positioned to provide crucial tools and solutions to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and research institutes for developing better therapies that would save millions of patient lives.”

Further reading: L. Pollaro, S. Equis, B. Dalla Piazza, & Y. Cotte (all: Nanolive): Stain-free 3D Nanoscopy of Living Cells – A new holographic tomographic microscope for quantitative and non-invasive 3D live cell nanoscopy, Optik Photonik 11(1), February 2016, pp. 38-42; DOI: 10.1002/opph.201600008